I Won't Be Denied By You
by Velvet Vixsyn
Summary: An impulsive Erudite with a history of being reckless defects to Dauntless on choosing day, where she catches the attention of Eric who is overseeing the instruction of the transfer initiates. As she goes through her training she often finds herself in trouble with the ruthless leader. Through out her training the tension between her and Eric grows. AU. Based on Movie Eric.
1. A Different Kind of Breed

**A/N. Well this is my first Divergent story. I recently watched the movie…twice, and really like Eric's character. I just can't resist a bad boy. (Who might just want to be good?) I haven't read the books yet, but plan on it. I know I should probably wait to read the books before writing this, but I just don't think I can wait. Since I'm doing this AU I figure it's not such a big deal, but you may notice that whatever little nuances that changed from the book to the movie this story will align with the movie. Things like neuro-stem darts instead of paintballs (I haven't gotten to that part in this chap, but when I do it will fit into my plot a lot better.) I'm also not dealing with the whole Tris/Four story line in this. Four is here, but I didn't feel like writing about them in this, and wanted to keep the focus on Eric and my OC. I am also leaving out the war for now, elements of it may come into play later, as well as Tris, and we'll see how it goes. I pull certain elements from the original story line, but twist them to fit my plot. I am also trying to keep Eric's character and demeanor close to how he is in at least the first half of the movie for the first part of this fic. As the story progresses I will tweak things a little with him, to bring him into the character I would like to see him be. This a slow burn. There will still be a fair amount of interaction between our two main characters though. I hope you all enjoy this story, and as always I deeply appreciate your favorites, follows, and reviews.**

**Update: I have read about half the first book. I discovered that I really don't like how he is portrayed in the books very much. I still like the movie version though, so I will continue to write him based on the movie version, and tweak him to fit my own purposes for this story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Divergent Trilogy.**

**A Different Kind of Breed**

I was on the train heading to Dauntless, my new faction. I was Erudite born…but from today on I was going to be Dauntless. Despite my parents pressure to stay Erudite, and not disappoint or embarrass them I chose my own path. I always knew I wouldn't stay. I tried to not let them know, but taking in how insistent they were about being the best Erudite I could be they had to have suspected I wanted to go in a different direction considering some of my behavior. The look on their faces as I held my hand over the Dauntless bowl, and let my blood drip was priceless. Their expressions were a mix of anger and embarrassment. I wasn't sad to leave. I had felt the opposite actually, for the first time in my life I felt free and alive. There was no one for me to miss. I had never been successful at making any close friends. I wasn't prized in my classes either. I wasn't the worst, just sort of middle of the road. My parents should be relieved that they didn't have to deal with me anymore. I had never been the model Erudite that they had wanted, I was often in trouble for one thing or another, and if my father didn't hold the position he did I probably would have been shunned, for causing too much trouble. Needless to say my relationship with my parents was strained at best. My mother seemed to acknowledge me as little as possible especially the last few years. My increasing number of incidents with classmates probably didn't help with that. My relationship with my father…well it just wasn't great to say the least.

My most recent destructive act had been blowing up a chemistry lab. A boy in my class had made a few very derogatory remarks to me. I had grabbed two volatile fluids dumped them together, and chucked it at his head. He was quick and ducked, and my little bomb hit the wall with a small explosion catching the room on fire. I thought it was pretty hysterical. No one else did, but I didn't care. That stupid boy kind of hit a nerve. When I had reached adolescences I _blossomed _rather quickly. At first I felt really self-conscious about it. All the other girls were still slim and flat, and I suddenly had full hips and thighs. My waist was still petite, but my chest was larger, and it made me look a little too buxom too early. The girls made fun of me, and the boys stared and made comments. By now I had grown comfortable with myself, and grown into my body, but it still irritated me when someone decided to act like a jerk, not to mention in front of the rest of the class. Blowing up the lab wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I had been so close to choosing day that I had decided to throw caution to the wind, and act on angry impulse.

When I had took my test, my results came back Dauntless. I had felt pretty confident that they would be. I had always felt sure that I wouldn't stay with Erudite, but it wasn't until the last year or so that I had finally felt sure of where I was supposed to be. Once I had made up my mind where I was going I spent as much time as I could preparing myself. I spent more time working out, and with access to information on almost anything, I studied up on weapons and hand to hand combat. It was just all information though, I had no real life experience. I wondered how I would measure up to the Dauntless born.

I had been lost in thought as we rode the train, and now everyone around me was stirring excitedly. A Candor boy called out, "Their all jumping! I don't know if I can jump." Most of them started to panic, and the others seemed to be bracing their selves. We only had a few moments until our car would be in line with the roof top. I readied myself, and a moment later I jumped from the train. I rolled to a stop on the gravel roof. I had made it. I stood and brushed myself off.

The others were all gathering at the edge of the wall. I got up, and made my way over to them. Everyone was off the train now, and someone at the edge was drawing there attention. A tall solidly built man with two piercings across his right eyebrow and in his ears, and two thick black tattoos of segmented lines running down either side of his throat stood at the edge of the building facing all of us. He was in all Dauntless black, and practically dripped menacing.

"I'm Eric one of the Dauntless leaders. This is the entrance to the Dauntless compound. If you want in, this is the only way. Who's going to be the first jumper?" He announced. He looked young to be a leader, but still had to be at the very least a few years older than all of us maybe even in his early twenties. I could feel everyone around me shift nervously in protest to what they would have to do. No one moved towards the edge. I decided I would go partly just because I wanted a better look at Eric. There was something about him…I wasn't sure what it was, but I was curious. I pushed through people feeling no need to say anything, and made my way to the edge. As I approached Eric stepped away, but as he did I was able to steal a long sideways glance at him. His hair was a soft blonde brown, and was kempt neatly in a gentleman's cut. His eyes really caught my attention though. They were the prettiest blue, and in the sunlight they reminded me of a lagoon. They were the kind of blue you could get lost in. I pulled myself from my thoughts, and tried to focus on what I was doing. I peeled off my jacket and let it fall to the floor. I climbed up on the ledge, and still without a word I looked to Eric with a kind of fiendish smile, and gave him a salute as I jumped off. It all happened so fast that I couldn't be sure, but I thought I caught the faintest glimmer of a smile cross his lips.

As my feet left the edge of the roof I felt an almost unbearable tingle pull through my stomach. The air whipped around me, and my breath caught. I felt free again as I fell, and the tingle in my stomach morphed into something I think I would describe as delight. Then I was bouncing. I finally took a breath, and realized I was in a huge net. Someone was tugging at the edge of it, and it rolled me over. A tall dark haired man grabbed me and helped me down.

"What's your name?" He asked indifferently.

"Ella." I answered.

"That's what you want to go by from now on?" He questioned again.

"Yeah, sure why not." I answered again.

"First jumper Ella!" He called out, and few people cheered. I walked over to the side of the room out of the way. I stood quietly, and watched as each of my new peers dropped from the top of the building. It didn't take too much longer for everyone to come down. Eric the leader was the last to jump.

"Alright everyone I'm Four, normally I work in the control room, but once a year I train initiates. This is Lauren she will be training the Dauntless born, and transfers you will be with me. There are three stages of training. In each stage of training you will be ranked, it will determine what kind of position you can take when you become Dauntless." Four explained.

Eric who had been standing behind us spoke up and said, "Ranking will also determine who gets cut. At the end of each level of training the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us. Only ten of you will be accepted, the rest will be left factionless. Dauntless born and transfers will be trained separately, but not ranked separately." His voice was smooth and deep with an edge of arrogance. He kind of scared the hell out of me, and at the same time I was a little fascinated.

"Why didn't anyone tell us? They should have told us first." A blonde haired Candor girl asked in disbelief.

Eric stared harshly at her and said, "Why? Would you have chosen differently? A true Dauntless wouldn't care." Everyone around me shuffled, and whispered nervously.

"There are nineteen of us, so almost half of us won't make it through?" A shy looking Erudite boy with brown hair asked. Eric ignored his obvious statement, and turned to talk to a shorter dark haired man that had been standing nearby him.

"Okay Dauntless born you can go you don't need a tour, the rest of you follow me." Four announced breaking the tension. Everyone moved to follow Four. I could feel someone standing behind me.

"You. Stay." Eric said. I turned cautiously to look at him. I somehow found the courage to meet his eyes, and did my best not to be too distracted by them. "What you did up there on the roof before you jumped. Don't do that again. Do you understand?" The tone of his voice was terrifying. It may have been the only thing that kept the defiant streak in me from raising my hand to my head and saluting him again. Because I was tempted to, but I resisted. I nodded and bit my lower lip to stifle the nervous grin that threatened to take hold. He waved me away, and I ran to catch up with the others.

Four led us around pointing out the important areas, the pit, the training room, and the chasm. He explained that we could use points to get things from the shops in the pit, and that we would all start out with enough to get a few things like new clothes. He then led us to our accommodations.

"This is where you will stay while you are initiates. Training begins at eight every morning and ends at six, you will get a break for lunch. After six you are free to do whatever you want, but you can't leave the compound unless you're accompanied by a full Dauntless member." Four explained. There were ten of us five girls including myself, and five boys.

The blonde Candor girl spoke up again and said, "Where are the boys sleeping, this is the girls room right?"

Four stared at her blankly and answered, "You will all be sharing this room. It's coed. If you're upset about the room, you may not want to look at the bathroom just yet. You're all going to have to get comfortable, and leave your modesty behind for now." I peeked into the large bathroom. There were rows of toilets with nothing around them, across from them were shower heads hanging from the ceiling over a large tile pad, and a few troughs with faucets.

Great.

The rumbling seemed to only be coming from the four other girls. I guessed the boys weren't feeling as shy.

Four waved for us to follow and said, "Come on lets go get something to eat, then you can go get some new clothes. I don't want to see you in your old faction's clothes tomorrow for training. I would recommend that after that all of you go to bed early." He said leading us to the cafeteria. It was loud, and most of the tables were full. We all filed in and grabbed some food before finding a seat. All of us transfers headed for a table at the edge of the room that was so far only occupied by Four. I sat down next to Four, and the blonde Candor girl sat on the other side of me. Across from us was the shy Erudite boy that I vaguely recognized. I had seen him around before I think, but didn't know him. Two more Candor boys sat next to him, and down at the other end of the table there were two Amity boys, another Candor girl, and two Abnegation girls.

I looked back around behind us, it was sea of people. I stopped for a moment when I spotted Eric, he sat with a group of others that I assumed were the rest of the leaders. He wasn't wearing his jacket now, and his arms were exposed in the sleeveless shirt he was wearing. I took note of the thick dark maze looking pattern of tattoos that ran down his forearms, my gaze moved back up to his face, and he was looking at me. His expression was dark and emotionless. I quickly looked away. I was starting to regret putting myself on his radar. I wanted to look back, but I didn't dare.

I nudged Fours arm and asked, "Why is that Eric guy such a huge jerk?"

Four turned to look at me, and with a harsh tone said, "What makes you think you can talk to me?" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yeah sorry I forgot, you're a huge jerk too." I retorted. He shook his head a little and went back to eating. I got the distinct feeling that he was trying to play the hard ass, but didn't quite have the conviction to make it stick. If he did he wouldn't have let me get away with that. Eric on the other hand, I suspected had the conviction.

The Erudite boy across from me introduced himself as Sean, I introduced myself, and he cut me off and said, "I know." The look on my face must have had something like menacing in it because he sheepishly added, "Well you know you just had a bit of a reputation." I stared at him for a brief moment. He was a cute boy with messy brown hair, and a sweet disposition.

"Yeah I bet she did." The Candor boy next to him sneered in a suggestive tone. I knew what he was getting at, and I didn't like it. "I'm Conner, and this is Derick." He said gesturing to himself, and the boy next to him. "You know if you ever get lonely you can hang out with us." He added in condescending and smug way. It was jerks like him that often got me into trouble. I had to get my anger under control, or I was going to get myself into trouble again. I took a deep breath, and stabbed at a piece of food on my plate. I contemplated hurling myself across the table, and stabbing him with my fork, but I mustered up what restraint I could, and said nothing. Well at least I was starting things off on the right foot.

"Umm that's not the kind of reputation she had…it was usually for blowing something up, or fighting, or both." Sean apparently felt the need to explain. Conner and Derick ignored him, and went back to their own conversation.

What Sean said seemed to catch Four's attention. He looked at me and said, "I wouldn't recommend blowing things up if you want to stay." I took another bite and swallowed.

"I won't. Probably." I answered. He just shook his head again. He was probably thinking something along the lines of _why me?_ That's what most of my Erudite teachers had thought anyway.

The blonde girl who had been sitting next to me spoke up and asked, "Did you really blow stuff up?" I looked at her with a small smile.

"Yeah a few times, in my defense it was warranted." I answered.

"That's kind of cool, I'm Lynn." She said introducing herself. I took a moment to look at her. She was slimmer than me, but maybe just a little taller. Her blonde hair rested just at her shoulders in soft waves, and she had hazel eyes. She was a pretty girl with a genuine smile.

"I don't think I would say it was cool, as much as a bad temper sort of situation." I replied. She laughed.

"Okay I'll try not to piss you off." She said. I decided I liked her and Sean. I might have actually made a few friends. That was sort of a first for me.

We finished eating, and we all headed to the pit to find clothes. Lynn and I found a shop with women's things. We both picked out a few basic items. Pants, a few tanks, socks, boots, and a jacket. I wandered to the back of the shop, and found women's under garments. We came only with what we had on, so I grabbed several pairs of underwear. I wasn't picky I just took what they had in my size.

A lady with purple hair approached me. "So fresh meat huh? Let me take a look at you." She commented as she grabbed me by the wrist, and twirled me around. "Well aren't you a cute little minx." She assessed, and squeezed my cheeks together with one hand. "OooOo those lips, I could just kiss'em. There so pouty." She said as if she was talking to a baby. Wow she was a weirdo. She pinched my cheek as she let go of my face.

"Looks like you have just about everything you need, did you pick out anything you can sleep in?" She asked.

"No I didn't even think about that." I said, I looked around and grabbed the first thing I saw. It was a stretchy soft dark grey camisole with a pair of matching shorts. That would work. I wanted to get out of there. Lynn seemed to be done too, so we went to the counter, and settled up.

"Have you gotten any personal care items yet?" She asked both of us. We shook our heads no. She smiled, and reached under the counter to pull out two black bags that closed with a zipper at the top. "Here you can take these. It's a little something I like to do for all new initiates. You'll find everything you need in there. We thanked her, gathered up all of our stuff, and left.

We made our way back to our dorm. It wasn't very late, but I was tired. I decided to take Four's advice and go to bed early. The day had been long and eventful, and a full night's sleep sounded really good. I changed into my camisole and shorts, and crawled into bed. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

I woke to the clanging of metal against metal. I rolled over and opened my eyes to see Four banging a pipe against the railing to the entrance of our room. I groaned. He looked like he was enjoying that way too much.

"Get up! You have an hour to get ready, get something to eat, and get to the training room." He announced. I always got up early, but never liked it. It was those few torturous moments between waking, and actually making your body get out of bed that I didn't like.

I sat up and reached for the bag the lady from the shop had given me. I got up out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. There was a stack of towels on table just outside the bathroom door, and I grabbed one as I went in. I stripped down, and turned on the water. I quickly brushed my teeth, washed, and scrubbed everything. I took a few moments to just stand in the water. Everyone else had begun to occupy the shower heads around me. I glanced to my right to find Conner, the jerk who had made rude comments about me at dinner last night. He was standing there under the water just staring at me. If I had anything in my stomach I might have thrown up.

I stepped out of the water, grabbed my towel, and left to get dressed. Everything that I got the night before was black except the camisole and shorts. I picked a random pair of underwear and black bra, and quickly put them on before pulling on my new pants. They were fitted, and hung low at my hips. I pulled a plain black tank on, and put on some socks and my boots. I rummaged through my black bag, and found a brush. There was a mirror above the table with towels, I went over to it, and brushed out my hair. When I was done I took a moment to look at myself. I liked my new Dauntless outfit. The change of clothes somehow made me feel like a new person. I looked back at my reflection. It was still me. The same long dark hair that curled into soft tendrils at the ends, and rested at the small of my back, fair smooth skin, soft features, and pouty lips as the women from the shop had said last night. Still I felt different, I liked it though.

I waited for Sean and Lynn to shower and get dressed. We all walked down to the cafeteria together. We poked at our food. None of us ate much, we were too nervous about our first day of training. We decided to leave and get there early.

We walked into the training room. Four and Eric were standing at the far end of the room having what looked like a strained conversation. I felt my stomach sink a little at the sight of Eric, and I hoped he would be leaving soon. I already felt nervous, and his presence only made it feel worse.

It didn't take long for the others to join us. When everyone was there Four spoke up and said, "We will start each day out with some basic fitness then move on to various other aspects of your training. Today we will go over guns before lunch, I will give you a demonstration on how to load and use one, and then you'll give it a try before shooting them. After lunch we will work on hand to hand combat. You won't be fighting anyone today, but you will soon, so I suggest you all take it seriously. You will learn the basic techniques of how to fight, and practice on the bags."

Eric had stood there silently all wrapped up in his usual ominous air while Four talked. I couldn't help but glance at him every few moments, this time thankfully he never made eye contact with me. I apparently wasn't the only one who kept looking at him because Four gestured to Eric and said, "Eric will be over seeing your training, so most of the time he will be joining us." I felt my stomach do a little flip. I didn't like the idea of him being there for nearly my whole training. I suddenly felt more self-conscious, I couldn't concentrate with him around. He was a distraction I didn't need. When I get nervous, and feel vulnerable I get mouthy. I impulsively say smart ass things that get me into trouble. I glanced back to Eric again, this time he was looking at me. My breath caught. Yeah I was defiantly going to get into trouble.

Four had started to move, and everyone had begun to follow him. I had missed whatever he said last because I was too busy worrying about Eric. Apparently we were running. I was okay with that, I had started running every day for the last year. We ran for an hour. I was able to keep up fine, I stayed a few steps behind Four. I enjoyed the run, and was relieved that Eric didn't join us. Most of everyone did okay with the running. The two abnegation girls had a bit of trouble keeping up, but they didn't fall too far behind.

We rounded back to the training room, and Four let us stop for a few minutes to get some water. He didn't give us much time, and moved right into instruction about guns. A range was set up for us, and we all gathered around it to listen to Four's instruction. Eric was lingering behind him looking over all of us. I found myself staring at him again. I seemed to be developing some sort of messed up preoccupation with him.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I was missing what Four had explained about the guns so far. I snapped my attention back to him. He was loading a gun, and I forced myself to take in every detail of what he did. When he was done he had us all approach the range that was set up. Each of us stood in front of a gun. I was at the very end, and Conner the perverted Condor boy took the spot next to me. The angry animal side of me wanted to turn and growl at him, but instead I picked up my gun. I ignored how he stared at me, and loaded it. I was suddenly thankful that I had taken the time to educate myself about guns before coming here. The rest of the initiates where all fumbling a little with loading their guns. Mine was done, so I stood and waited.

Four walked over to me took my gun and checked it. "Good. Now start shooting." He ordered nodding to my target.

I found my footing, and brought my gun up to my shoulder. I lined up my sights, and took a shot. I missed the target completely. I wasn't completely ready for the shock of the gun blast. Conner laughed at me, and I gave him an icy sideways glance before finding my footing again. I brought the gun back up to my shoulder, and readied myself to fire again. This time I was prepared. I took my first shot and hit the outer ring of my target, I quickly adjusted and fired three more times hitting the inner ring of my target. I took a breath and shot three more times, this time I hit the very center of my target with all of my shots.

Four was still standing next to me, and I felt his hand on my shoulder. I dropped my gun down, and faced him.

"Have you ever fired a gun before?" He questioned.

"No. I was Erudite when would I have ever had the chance to?" I answered.

"You're a good shot for it being your first time, keep going till you're out of shells." He ordered. I nodded and began firing again. It didn't take me too long to run out of shells. Most of the shots I took were dead on, apparently firing a gun was something I was good at. Conner looked put out. He was a crap shot, and only managed to hit the outer rings of his target. Everyone else did a reasonable job except a small Abnegation girl named Sophie who didn't hit her target at all.

When everyone was out of shells Four spoke up, "Okay put down your guns, and you can go to lunch. You have an hour." Everyone put down their guns, and headed for the door. I had only taken a few steps when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Not you. Stay." Eric said in his deep cold voice. I stopped and turned to face him. Four was standing next to him. I didn't even doing anything, why was I in trouble this time?

"If we doubled the distance of your target do you think you can still hit it like you just did?" Four asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I can try." I answered honestly. I took a breath to steady myself, maybe I wasn't in trouble. Lynn and Sean had stopped at the door to wait for me, and when they were the only ones left lingering there it drew Eric's attention.

"What are you waiting there for? Go." He ordered. They both scrambled away.

Four put up a fresh target, and grabbed my gun. We all walked double the distance from my target and stopped. Four handed me my gun, and some more shells. I loaded it, and prepared myself to shoot. I took my first shot, and barely hit the outer ring.

"That's not going to cut it, are we wasting our time here?" Eric questioned. I choose not to look at or answer him, it was better that way. If I opened my mouth now I knew it would come back to haunt me. I took a deep breath, and readied myself again. I shot five rounds off, and they all hit the center of the target. I forced myself to look at Four, and avoid Eric.

"Good. The next time we shoot we'll triple the distance. You can go now." Four said. I handed him the gun, and turned and left.

Once I was out the door I ran to the cafeteria. I quickly grabbed some food, and found Lynn and Sean. I scooted in and sat between them. I started eating. Apparently shooting a gun made me hungry. Both Lynn and Sean started at me with expectant looks.

"Well? What was that all about? Are you in trouble?" Lynn beat Sean to the punch and asked. I took another bite.

"No I'm not in trouble. They wanted me to double my distance from the target." I answered with my mouth half full.

"Wow, your so lady like when you're hungry." Sean teased. I laughed a little.

"I have my lady like moments, but when I'm hungry isn't one of them." I retorted.

"I can see that. You're kind of like a rabid dog who hasn't eaten in a week." He said. I laughed a little. He was right I kind of was.

"So did you hit the target when you were further away?" Lynn asked.

"The first shot wasn't great, but yeah after that I did good." I answered with my mouth full again.

"What did they say?" Sean asked. I shrugged.

"Nothing really. Four said he would triple it next time we shot, and then they let me go." I explained.

"Do you think it will help you rank higher?" Sean asked.

"I don't know." I answered honestly.

We finished eating, and all made our way back to the training room. Four was waiting for us again. This time Eric was gone. I took a deep breath, and relaxed a little. Four had us line up in front of him, and he immediately went into instruction on some of the most basic moves. He had us imitate him until we had them memorized, then sent us each to a punching bag to practice. The whole rest of the afternoon went on like that. He would pace up and down the line of us correcting moves as we practiced on the bags. Six O'clock finally rolled around, and he dismissed us. I was tired and hungry again.

We all headed straight for the cafeteria, we ended up back at the same table we sat at the night before. The place was packed again, and the rumble of the crowd was actually kind of nice. I sat next to Sean this time, and Lynn was next to him. There was one open spot next to me at the end of the table, and a few moments into eating Four sat next to me. I suddenly felt very cheeky. I grabbed his arm and hugged it.

"Aww I knew you loved us." I said before letting his arm go. He shook his head.

"It was the last seat." He said in a dismissive tone, but I caught the small smile on his lips. I knew it he was a softy. I glance behind me for a brief moment. Eric was watching again with a scowl on his face. He was in the same spot he had sat at the night before. What a creeper. What was his problem?

Everyone was tired, and we all headed back to our room after dinner. Lynn and Sean sat up talking on Lynn's bed which was next to mine. I grabbed the camisole and shorts I had bought the night before, I slipped under the covers to change into them.

"Are you going to bed?" Lynn asked as I snuggled under my blanket.

"Yeah I'm beat, and tomorrow is just going to be another long day." I answered with a yawn. She nodded at me, and went back to talking with Sean. A few others took my lead, and were climbing into bed while the rest talked quietly amongst themselves. I listened in on Lynn and Sean's conversation about how they did with the guns earlier, and before I knew it I was asleep.

I flicked my covers off of me. The room was almost completely dark. There was a faint glow coming from somewhere in the bathroom, but that was it. I rolled over onto my stomach, then tossed back over onto my back, then my side. I couldn't get comfortable. It was hot in here. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I knew it was late. I needed fresh air. I sat up, and felt around for my boots. I found them and pulled them on. I very carefully made my way to the door. I opened it a crack. No sound. I peeked my head out into the hall, no one was around. I slipped out the door and gently closed it.

I wasn't sure where I was going, I just wanted to walk around, and cool off. I wandered mindlessly through the halls thinking about nothing in particular. I liked being on my own like this, with no one around. It felt as though the whole compound was mine, and I could do whatever I wanted. As I continued to wander my way around I came to the chasm. I moved out onto the walk way, and leaned against the railing that ran along one side.

The air was cooler here, and I could hear the water rushing down below. The sound was nice. I leaned over further to try and see how far it went down. I was leaning back up when I felt hand grip my arm roughly. It startled me, and I jumped into whoever had grabbed me. It was Eric. I clang desperately to the fabric of his shirt, as he still held tightly onto my arm. I looked down at the chasm, and contemplated for a brief moment which was worse. Him or the bottom. I didn't have time to make up my mind. He drug me off the walkway, and pinned me to the wall. There was only a few inches between us. It was the closest I had been to him. I shivered, not from the cold.

If I had thought he was foreboding from a distance it was nothing compared to being this close to him. I instinctively pressed a hand to his chest in a feeble attempt to keep the little distance we had between each other there. He was like steel under my hand. Everything about him seemed bigger, stronger, and more intimidating. My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed hard before taking another breath. I gathered myself mentally, and met his gaze. His eyes were angry and cold.

"What are you doing out here this late?" He questioned me. His voice still deep, smooth, and dripping with venom.

I tried to find my voice, and shivered again this time it was the cold. The wall I was against was freezing, and the air around the chasm was much cooler. "I…It was hot, and I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. I explained. "You can't too hot anymore it's almost freezing over here, so why haven't you gone back?" He almost growled.

I…just…I don't know?" I answered. He scowled at me. That apparently wasn't a very good explanation. "Go back to your room, and go to bed." He ordered. He dropped his arms, but didn't give me an inch, so I had to slide away from him.

As I was walking away he called after me. "Ella. Don't let me catch you out here again late at night." I turned on my heel to face him. "Yes sir." I said with a salute. What was my problem?! It was like I just couldn't help but try and get myself into trouble.

The look on his face was honestly the scariest thing I had ever seen. Pure seething wrath might come close to describing it. I started to turn and leave.

"Stop." He called to me. A chill ran through me. I thought about running for it, but I knew he would catch me, and it would only make things worse. He walked slowly and deliberately up to me.

I was standing in the middle of the hall, and he was slowly circling me like a wolf closing in on a fawn.

"You seem to have a hard time keeping your mouth shut. I read your file. I noticed a theme to all of your little outbursts." He said his voice softer quieter, and somehow it was more scary than when you could hear the rage in it. He was behind me now, and he brushed a strand of my hair from my shoulder.

"You get a little _touchy_ when someone teases you_._" The last word was more of a whisper. I shivered. He was close again. I could feel his breath ghost across my skin. A chill ran down my spine, the kind that makes you instinctively want to arch your back.

"Tomorrow you'll be sparing all day. I'm going to pair you with Conner. From what you tell me you've caught his attention, and working with him should be a test of your patience. If you say one thing to him in retaliation, or step out of line in any way you're out. I don't care what he does or says, I'll cut you. Do you understand?" He said as he came to stand in front of me.

"Yes." I replied meekly.

"Good. Go to bed." He ordered again.

This time I took off at a run, and didn't look back. I reached our dorm, slipped in, and went straight for my bed. I crawled under the covers. I laid there shaking as I thought about what had just happened. I had only been here two days, and I was already deep in it. I tried to pep talk myself up for tomorrow. I vowed that this time I would keep my mouth shut, and do whatever it took to get through tomorrow. I wasn't going to let Conner of all people let me get kicked out. My shivering stopped, and I slowly drifted off to sleep.


	2. The Animal Inside of You

**A/N. I got the book, and read about half of it, to get a better feel for this story. I have to say I'm not as crazy about Eric in the book, but I still like his movie version. Jai Courtney does such a good job, so I think I will continue base him on the movie, and as I go mold him into the version of him I'd really like to see. I hope to get a chapter up once a week going forward, but with school it may take longer depending on how much homework I have. Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews, they are very encouraging for me to keep writing. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Trilogy. **

**The Animal Inside of You**

I woke to the clanking of metal on metal again. I rolled over, and rubbed my eyes. I felt more tired than I had the day before. All of my late night excitement was taking its toll. I felt my stomach twist as I remembered what I had to look forward to for the day. I pulled myself out of bed, and headed for the shower. I wasted no time going through my routine…neither did Conner. The morning shower stare down looked like it would be an ongoing thing.

Sean and Lynn did their best to block his view when they could. We finished up in the shower, quickly dressed, and went down to breakfast. I didn't have much of an appetite. I told Lynn and Sean that I was going to head to the training room early. I took my time walking over, and tried to mentally prepare myself for the day.

When I walked into the training room Four was there by himself. I took a deep breath. Maybe Eric wouldn't show up, and I would be off the hook. Then I could feel someone standing behind me.

"You're here early initiate, eager to get started?" Eric asked in a quiet mocking tone. I knew better than to say anything to him, so I just stayed quiet, and let him walk past me over to Four.

Four called me over to them, and told me I could start running early if I wanted to. I was glad to take him up on his offer. The suspense of waiting with Eric in the room was becoming too much. I took off on the route we had used last time. It was long trek that twisted around, and through the compound. The cool morning air felt soothing, I just let my mind clear as I ran, knowing that this would probably be the only chance I would have all day to be relaxed.

My run seemed to fly by, I was back at the training room before I knew it. I went in, and Eric was tightening ropes on the punching bags. Everything in me wanted to turn and just run away, but that wasn't a realistic option…unless I wanted to be factionless. He seemed to be ignoring me, and made no acknowledgement of my presence. I was fine with that. I got some water, and sat down on one of the square mats that we would be sparing in when the rest of them got back. I picked the one that was the farthest from the bags, and at the edge of the room.

I wasn't waiting long before Four and the rest of the initiates came spilling back into the room from their run. Four gave them all a few moments to get water, and catch their breath.

"Okay today you will be sparing in pairs. Keep in mind that sparing means you're practicing your moves with light blows. You're not in a real fight, so you're not trying to kill each other. Take your time with each move, and pay attention to technique." Four explained. Eric walked up, and stood next to him. "Alright initiates, I want Lynn with Sophie, Sean with Derick, Abby with Owen, James with Hazel, and Ella with Conner." Eric announced.

Okay so this was going to happen, all of my wishful thinking hadn't paid off. Conner made his way over to me with a cocky grin already plaster on his face. I took a deep breath and braced myself.

"You know I might consider taking it easy on you, if you were a little nicer to me." Conner said in a suggestive tone. I gritted my teeth, and focused on standing in a defensive position. Eric walked over, and stood outside of our ring.

A small part of me was strangely glad he was there, with him nearby maybe Conner wouldn't take things too far. Conner and I circled each other.

"What are you waiting for? Go." I took the first shot. I kept my blow light, focused my technique, and made a mental note of how Conner took it.

"Oh come on sweet heart you can do better than that." Conner teased. He came at me, and I blocked his hit easily. He had a tendency to wind up before he took a shot. I glanced over to Eric. He was standing just outside of our mat with his arms folded over his chest watching us. Conner caught me in the left cheek hard, harder than he should have. I grabbed my jaw, and shook it off.

We went on like that for hours. Conner would make some sort of suggestive comment every time he couldn't block one of my hits. Eric stayed near our mat the whole time, and as the hours went by I found it harder and harder to keep my cool. The tension in me was building with each snide remark. It took all I had to keep my mouth shut, and my blows soft. I had managed somehow to not say a word to him all day. I had barely said a word to anyone at all. Even during our lunch break I barely said anything to Lynn or Sean, I just picked at my food until it was time to go back.

It was getting late we only had a little over an hour left of training. Conner's moves were still predictable, and I took at least some joy in the fact that his comments only meant that he was just mad that he couldn't land a hit.

"Okay take a few more shots then head to the bag for the last hour." Four called out to everyone. I was so relieved that I let my guard, and Conner took advantage. He came at me and faked like he had stumbled. He landed on me hard sending me to the ground, and took his time climbing off.

It was as if something was lit on fire inside of me. I pulled myself up. I took a breath, and walked to the bags. I went at the bag, and put every ounce of force I could into each hit. It felt good to hit hard after holding back all day, but the anger was still there. At first I thought hitting the bag would help take off some of the tension, but no matter how hard I hit it only grew. I could feel the animal inside clawing at the surface threatening to rip free. All I could think about was how smug he had been with each filthy word that came out of his mouth.

Eric walked up beside me, and stood there watching for a long moment. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I wasn't sure I could hold back much longer without lashing out. I only had to hold out for about forty more minutes.

"I think we're ready for some real fighting. Ella and Conner in the ring." Eric called out. I turned to look at him now. His expression was cool and calm. I took my place in the ring. Eric may have thought he was just torturing me more, but he was giving me exactly what I wanted. I was going to rip Conner apart.

"How long do we fight?" Conner asked.

"Until one of you can't fight anymore." Eric answered.

"Or someone concedes." Four chimed in.

"No. New rules no one concedes." Eric retorted. Four looked frustrated, but didn't say anything more.

Conner grinned at me and said, "My offer still stands, I'll take it easy on you if…" He didn't get the chance to finish. I took my first shot, and hit him in the throat, and followed with another hit to the center of his face. His nose started to gush blood.

"You!" He gurgled not able to finish whatever he was going to say. He came at me, and I blocked it. I used his momentum, and kneed him five times in the stomach. He came up quicker than I had anticipated though, and caught me in the face. I could feel the blood run from my nose, but I didn't care. The anger burned too hot to feel the pain. He lunged for me. It was sloppy. He was desperate. He knew he was going to lose. In his fumbling move he was half bent over as I averted his charge. I punched him in the back, and sent him to the floor. I held onto his arm, he was face down. I bent it back from the shoulder, and use my body weight to twist until I heard a sickening pop. He screamed out in pain. I looked to Eric, and he made a gesture to finish it. I let his arm flop down, and kicked him in the face as hard as I could. He was done.

"Get him out of here. Your all done for today, you can leave. Not you Ella. Stay." Eric announced. Four helped Derick pick up Conner, and everyone headed for the door. I could feel the tension begin to slip away, and the animal that had been clawing to get out slipped back down to sleep. I was suddenly aware that I had blood running down my face, I lifted the bottom hem of my shirt and wiped most of it away. My face stung with pain, and I began to feel how tired and sore my body was. Once everyone had left Eric came close, and stood in front of me.

"What did you learn today initiate?" He asked. I looked up at him, and made myself meet his eyes.

"To keep my mouth shut." I answered.

"You learned more than that. What else?" He pushed. His tone direct and to the point.

"To watch my opponent, learn his moves…and how to dislocate someone's shoulder." I answered. He smirked at that last part.

"You did good today. You used your anger to help you, but in the future revenge won't always help you win. You need to be more focused…okay, go to the infirmary." He said dismissively.

"I'm fine. I don't need to go." I answered.

"I didn't ask if you were fine. I told you to go. Now go, and if I find out you didn't you'll pay for it." He said his brows furrowing. I knew better than to say anything else, so I turned and headed for the infirmary.

When I walked into the infirmary a dark haired women greeted me, and led me over to an exam table. Without saying much she cleaned my face off, and gave me an ice pack. She then cleaned my knuckles, and bandaged them up.

"I take it that's your handy work over there?" She said nodding toward Conner who was lying in a bed with his arm in a sling. He was holding an ice pack over his face with his good hand.

"Yeah I guess so. It was our first fight." I said as she checked me over.

"Not bad for your first fight, try not to beat the next one up too bad. I'm the one who has to patch them up." She said playfully. She gave me a pain pill, and said I was good to go.

I was starving, I hadn't really eaten anything all day, and now that I wasn't angry, or dreading anything I felt ravenous. I hopped off the exam table, and headed for the door. As I was about to turn, and head for the cafeteria I almost ran right into Eric. He caught me by the shoulders, and stopped me just before I plowed my face into his chest. I stared up at him stupidly for a moment, before stepping back.

"I saw the nurse I promise, she said I was fine to leave." I sort of sputtered out.

"Okay. I'm not stopping you. You can go." He said simply. I slid around him, and watched as he went into the infirmary. I waited outside the door, and could hear Eric asking the nurse if Conner was awake. My stomach growled loudly. I didn't think that they could hear it, but I didn't stick around to find out. I headed for the cafeteria.

When I walked in it was the usual loud sea of people. I grabbed some food, and went to my usual seat. Lynn and Sean had saved me a spot. I nuzzled in next to Sean, and dug into my food.

"Are you okay?" Sean asked attentively.

"I'm fine. Tired. Hungry." I mumbled with my mouth full. Sean put his hand on my back, and patted softly a few times before rubbing in soft circular motions. It was meant to be a gesture of comfort, but it made me feel a little tense again. I wasn't used to physical contact, both my parents had always been distant. There wasn't ever any hugging, or cuddling. There was only ever one person who had hugged me, but that was something I could never think about. Those memories were gone, locked away. I had never had a boyfriend either, never wanted one. There wasn't anyone I had ever connected with, so I was often alone. Physical contact was something that was kind of foreign to me.

"What did Eric want to talk to you about?" Four asked. He was sitting across from me today. I shrugged.

"Nothing much. Just talked to me about the fight." I answered. I didn't want to tell him about what had happened last night.

"That's it nothing else?" he questioned.

"No. That was it." I answered. I wondered why he was asking. He studied me for a beat then went back to eating.

I looked back behind me. It seemed to be a habit I was forming, to check for him. Whatever he had been up to in the infirmary apparently didn't take long. He had just sat down in his usual spot, he glanced over and looked at me. I held his gaze this time. His brows were furrowed, and he looked angry. I watched him as his eyes wandered over me, lingering on Sean's hand which was still rubbing my back. His jaw flexed, and he got up and walked away. I watched his retreating form. Sean finally stopped rubbing my back, and I relaxed a little again. I turned back, and looked at Four.

"Seriously what's his deal?" I asked Four. He shook his head a little.

"Don't get too curious about Eric. Just leave it alone." He answered. What was that supposed to mean? That was such a vague answer. I stared at him for a moment.

"That's all you're going to give me?" I asked. He shrugged, and went back to eating. I wasn't going to get anywhere with Four. He was reasonably cryptic himself, so I just dropped it.

When I was done eating I hauled myself back to our dorm. I was exhausted. Sean and Lynn were going over a colorful account of my fight, and I couldn't help but smile. I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to have beat Conner, and win my first fight. The sight of my bed made me almost groan with longing. I was so tired, it had been such a long day. I quickly changed, and flopped onto my bed. It only took a few moments for me to fall asleep.

The next few days flew by. Luckily they were fairly uneventful. We continued with hand to hand combat training, and Four had begun teaching us how to throw someone. In between our fights we focused on strength training to round out our day. Eric continued to be watchful, but hadn't said much of anything to me since the night of my first fight. Conner was mostly back to normal, and his arm was out of the sling. The strange thing was since the night of our fight he would barely look at me, and he hadn't said one derogatory comment. He hadn't actually said anything at too me at all. He also completely avoided me in the shower. I was grateful for it. I wanted to think it was because I beat him in the fight, but this nagging part of my mind told me it really had to do with whatever Eric did, or said that night in the infirmary.

Today we would be learning how to throw knifes. I was looking forward to it. I did so well with the guns that I thought throwing knifes should be easy. I went through my normal morning routine, and walked with Lynn and Sean down to get some breakfast. We found our seats, and dug in. I was in a good mood, and hungry. I was scarfing down a piece of toast with strawberry jam when Sean started to laugh at me.

"What?" I asked. He grabbed a napkin and wiped at my cheek.

"Seriously you should work on your table manners. You had jam all over your face." He said still giggling a little. With my free hand I combed my fingers through his hair feebly attempting to straighten it up a bit. His soft brown hair was always unruly, and he never seemed to make much of an effort to tame it. He smiled at me in a way that said, you're wasting your time. Sean was a nice guy. Cute and sweet, very much the boy next door type.

"Thanks, but that's not really going to work." He said.

"Well I thought I'd give a try, since we're grooming each other now apparently." I retorted and we both laughed a little.

"You guys are so weird." Lynn added. Lynn had said it light heartedly, but I suddenly felt a little self-conscious. Having friends was still so new to me. I wasn't always sure how to act with them. I shrugged it off, and finished my food.

When we walked into the training room there was row of human shaped targets lined up for us. Four and Eric were waiting by a table filled with throwing knifes all laid out.

"Everyone over here. I'm going to explain and demonstrate how to throw a knife properly, then all of you will practice. Pay attention you'll be awarded points on this." Four explained.

We all gathered around him to watch. Eric was standing off to his side watching him as well. Four launched into a detailed explanation about how to position your body, and throw the knife. I could hear him talking, but my mind drifted. I found myself watching Eric instead, and wondering what he had said to Conner.

"Okay grab some knifes and take a target." I heard Four order. I shook myself from my thoughts, and did as he said. I suddenly felt foolish, I hadn't heard anything he said about how to throw a knife.

I was at the end of the row of targets. Four and Eric were at the opposite end watching everyone. I took my first knife, and randomly hurled it at my target. It loudly pinged off the target, and clattered even louder onto the floor. I immediately blushed. I had no idea what I was doing. I snuck a glance at Four and Eric hoping they hadn't noticed. Four had a look that said _really_? That was pathetic. Eric on the other hand was moving towards me. Crap. He stopped just beside me.

"What was that?" He questioned.

I shrugged a little and said, "I was throwing a knife." It came out sounding more like a question than I had meant it to. He shook his head.

"Instead of staring at me you should have been paying attention to what Four instructed you to do." He lectured. I felt my cheeks grow hotter. He had noticed that. If it was possible I felt even more embarrassed.

"I…I wasn't…" I stumbled for words.

"Stop. Just pay attention this time." He said stepping behind me.

He grabbed my hips, and pivoted them at an angle while kicking my foot into place with his. His grip was firm, but not painful. My heart raced, and my legs started to feel like jelly. He kept on hand on my hip, and the other he grabbed my throwing arm with. He positioned my arm the way he wanted before touching my side, and stomach explaining where I needed to keep the tension as I threw. If he wasn't holding onto me I might have fallen over.

"When you're ready throw your knife." He said. I took a breath and threw the knife. It clattered to the floor again. He leaned in close to my ear.

"Are you still not paying attention? You can do better than that." He said just loud enough for me to hear.

"Okay." I said, but it came out as more of a squeak. He laughed a little.

"Am I making you nervous?" He asked.

"Yeah…you're really…close." Was all I could manage to get out.

"Then make me move." He said.

It was a challenge, but I felt hesitant. Was he setting me up? Was this a trap so I would get into more trouble? I wasn't sure, but there wasn't much else I could do. I gripped the Knife I held in my throwing arm. If I was going to do what I was about to I had to be quick, and I couldn't give it away. I readied myself like I was going to throw again.

Instead of throwing my knife I spun quickly, and brought the blade up to his throat. I held it there almost in a panic not sure if I should move it or leave it. He laughed in a genuine sort of way, and slowly moved the blade away.

"You get points for bravery Initiate, but you still need to throw your knife." I took a breath. He turned me by my shoulders to face my target, and stepped back giving me some space. I positioned myself the way he had showed me, and threw my knife. This time I landed it in the chest of my target. He stepped closer again.

"Good. I want you to focus your aim on the head, _throat_, shoulders, and chest." He said, his emphases on the word throat wasn't lost on me. I threw my next knife, and landed it in the groin of my target.

"That works too." He said with a soft laugh as he walked back toward Four.

As he walked away I felt like I could breathe again. I couldn't think straight with him that close. I forced myself to pay attention to throwing my knives. I had to admit that what he showed me helped, I was able to land my knifes where I wanted if I focused. It was a little strange, but I think that he actually was really trying to help me do better.

We spent the rest of the morning practicing. Almost everyone did well with the knives except Derick. It took him forever to stick one of his knives, and when he finally did they were always way off. I couldn't help but notice that neither Eric nor Four stepped in to help him. I wondered why Eric helped me, he could have just let me struggle and fail. That seemed like the more likely thing for him to do.

The day seemed to slip by quickly. After lunch we worked on strength training, and went for a run before finishing up with more knife throwing. Lynn, Sean, and I were all sitting at our usual spot eating dinner. The day had been full, but surprisingly I didn't feel too tired. I think I was starting to get used to the all the work.

"So apparently there is going to be a bit of a party in the pit tonight. One of the Dauntless born boys told me about it during our lunch break today. He said we should all come, and I think I want to go." Lynn explained to Sean and me. I was up for that. We hadn't really spent much time interacting with the Dauntless population, we were always busy training.

"Yeah I'll go with you, it could be fun. We haven't had the chance to relax much since we've been here, it'll be good for us." I said. Sean shrugged, and agreed to go too.

I could feel someone watching me. I didn't have to turn to know who it was, but it was kind of becoming my thing to turn around and check for him. I looked back behind me, and as usual Eric was watching. He gave me a sort of mischievous smirk, and something in his eyes seemed less cold, less hard somehow. I could feel my eyes widen in surprise, and I quickly snapped my attention back to my food. I wasn't expecting that. He never smiled at me when I looked back at him. It was always cold, emotionless, scary, or angry even, but never anything like that playful smirk he just gave me. He perplexed me in ways I couldn't begin to describe.

After dinner the three of us went back to our dorm, and laid around for an hour or so before heading down to the pit. Lynn laid across her bed, and Sean and I laid on mine. It was a tight squeeze, but we snuggled in each of us with a head at one end of my bed. I was trying to get used to close contact with others, and Sean seemed to be so comfortable with it that I tried to follow as naturally as I could. We laid around like that just talking about random things, but most of the conversation consisted about how our training was going. Lynn seemed eager to get to the party, so we pulled ourselves from our beds and made our way to the pit.

As we neared the pit the sound of drums grew louder. I had never seen it so active before. There were bodies swaying to the beat of the drums scattered across the middle of the massive cavern. There were smaller groups of people clustered around the edges of the room all talking and laughing together. Everything about it was vibrant and alive. I had never seen anything like it before.

We walked in further stopping just at the edge of the dancing crowd. A tall Dauntless born boy with dark hair that fell long enough to frame his face walked up to us. He smiled at Lynn and took her hand. Now that he was closer I got a better look at him. He had pale blue eyes that contrasted strikingly with his dark hair and fair skin. His features were smooth and fine. He was very attractive, and I suddenly understood Lynn's eagerness to get to the party. I couldn't help but grin like a little girl who wanted to tease her friend about a crush.

Lynn turned to Sean and me and said, "This is Ryan, he's one of the Dauntless born initiates. This is Ella, and Sean." I smiled and gave a little wave. Sean stuck out his hand to shake Ryan's, and Ryan obliged him. Ryan's attention went back to Lynn.

"Come dance with me?" Ryan asked Lynn tugging at her hand in a sort of playful way. Lynn just smiled back at Sean and me as she let Ryan lead her out to dance. Sean grinned at me.

"He seems nice." Was all he said, and we both laughed a little.

"Hey you want to dance?" Sean asked giving me a pleading smile. I had never danced with anyone before. I had never been asked. I was feeling pretty lively, so I took Sean's hand, and lead him in the direction Lynn and Ryan had gone. We were near the edge of the crowd somewhat close to a wall with a tall ledge running along it.

I tried my best to mimic the way I saw all the other girls dancing. It was a sort of soft sway that let their bodies move with their partners. Sean was close, but not quite touching. It was kind of like a game to try and follow each other's movements, but never really touch. It was fun, and I was beginning to lose myself in the moment of it all.

I could feel it again. Those eyes on me, it was odd how I just always somehow knew when he was near. Near enough to watch. I glanced around, and didn't see him at first. I was about to reprimand myself for thinking he was there when he wasn't when I looked back to the ledge on the wall behind me. Eric was there sitting on the edge. He seemed to be alone, and he was watching me. The playfulness of his expression earlier seemed to be gone. His brows were furrowed, and he looked…maybe not angry but frustrated.

I let my eyes meet his, and just stared for a moment trying to figure him out. I knew it was a pointless effort, but I couldn't help but stare at him. He just stared back. I felt a hand on my cheek gently pulling my gaze away from Eric. It was irritating, I didn't want to look away from him yet. Sean's hand was softly placed on my cheek, his thumb lightly stroked my jaw. I was looking at him now, and our dancing had stopped. He was leaning in. I just looked at him for what felt like a long time. Everything seemed to slow down, and suddenly I realized what was happening. He was going to kiss me. I shot my hand up just before his lips could touch mine. When he opened his eyes I could see he was hurt.

"Sean. I…I just don't feel that way about you. You're my friend." I said trying my best to be gentle. He took a small step back, and gave me a defeated smile.

"I know. I knew that's what you would probably say, but I had to know for sure." He said. I took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"We can still be friends right? This doesn't have to change anything?" I asked not completely sure I believed in what I was asking. He smiled again, and squeezed my hand back.

"Yeah we are still friends, and it doesn't have to change anything." He answered. I could tell it was hard for him to say though, and I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. Sean shuffled a little and looked around at nothing in particular. Everything felt a little awkward now. I looked back behind me, and Eric was gone. It was strange, but I really wanted to go find him. Why was he staring at us? Why wasn't he still staring at us? It made no sense. I was making no sense. Lynn and Ryan were making their way toward us through the crowd.

"Hey…you two seem quiet." Lynn commented apparently picking up the awkward tension that now seemed to rest between Sean and I.

"No we're fine." I said, but my voice was maybe a little too high. Lynn gave me an odd look before turning to Sean.

"Hey come on, come dance with me." Lynn said to Sean taking his hand, and leading him into the crowd before he could answer her.

I stood there shifting my weight from one foot to the other not really knowing what to do or say. Ryan was standing next to me still.

A long moment passed before he finally said, "Come on let's go over here. I've been wanting to talk to you." I felt my brows furrow I didn't even know him until just a bit ago, what could he want to talk to me about. I didn't really have a chance to question him, or protest. He had my hand and was leading me away from the loudness of the crowd. We walked a little way down a dark hall, and I was starting to feel panicky. What was he up to? He finally stopped and leaned against the wall. The sound of the drums was now just a distant hum. We were alone, and I was contemplating making a run for it.

"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you." He said. The light was a dim soft blue glow, and we couldn't see much, but he obviously could see that I was scared.

"Why are we here? What do you want?" I asked. He ran his hand through his hair and looked at me for a while.

"I've noticed that you seemed to have caught the attention of Eric." I felt my stomach do a little flip. Had other people started to notice his staring…my staring back at him? It was something that seemed so privet that I hadn't stopped to think about who else was around to notice. He laughed a little.

"Seriously you need to relax a little. Don't look so tense." He said shoving my shoulder softy.

"Why are you talking to me about Eric?" I questioned.

"Okay. Here's the deal. It's not such a bad thing you have Eric's attention. If he's paying close attention to you it means him, and likely other Dauntless leaders think you have potential for a leadership position if you make it through initiation. It's good because you are very likely to pass otherwise they wouldn't waste their time." Ryan explained. I still felt confused and unsure about what he was saying and why.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Well you may have noticed that I'm kind of into Lynn. She's doing okay in the rankings, but if she messes up, or does poorly in stage two, she could be out. I don't want that to happen. Want I want is for you to help her out when you can. You will have some pull with Eric, even if it doesn't seem like it. On the flip side if you piss him off he will retaliate, and knowing that you are close with Lynn makes her a potential target." He answered.

"Okay so you want me to help Lynn I get that. I want Lynn to make it through too she's my friend, so I guess I agree with you." I said not sure of how exactly to answer him.

"Good I think we're on the same page. Umm…maybe keep your distance from Sean when Eric is around, or you know any other guys. I think you may have ticked him off tonight, with that whole thing you Sean started while you were dancing." He said. I glared at him what did that mean?

"What whole _thing_ with Sean do you mean?" I asked. He laughed a little.

"Well the two of you making out on the dance floor. You know that sort of thing." He answered.

"What? We weren't making out! He tried to kiss me and I stopped him. It was just a miss understanding." I protested letting out a sigh of frustration.

"Well from the angel Lynn and I were at, and Eric's it didn't look like that." He said. "If we have an understanding, I'm going to go back to the party?" He asked.

"Yeah sure. We're good." I answered.

Ryan took off back down the hall toward the party. I leaned back against the wall. It had turned out to be a rather eventful day. Most days seemed to turn out like that here at Dauntless…huh funny how that works. I sat there for a while soaking in everything Ryan had told me. So was Eric only interested in me as a potential leader if I passed? Was he only watching me to examine every move I made to see if I really had what it takes to be a leader? Is that why he smiled at me earlier? Why did I have to watch myself around him with Sean, or any guy like Ryan had said? My head was swimming.

I closed my eyes, and leaned my head against the cool stone of the wall. I was finally beginning to feel sleepy. I was rummaging up the energy to move, and head back to the dorm when I could hear someone's footsteps in the hall. I must have been too lost in thought because by the time I heard them, they had come to a stop next to me. I didn't want to open my eyes and look. Maybe if I just ignored them, they would go away. I gave in. I opened my eyes, and Four was standing next to me. I took a breath. I was partly relieved, and oddly disappointed at the same time.

"Already have enough of the party?" He asked. I gave him a hard look.

"It's turned out to be an eventful night. I think I'm just going to go to bed." I answered. I pushed off of the wall, and started to walk back down the hall. I felt his hand clamp onto my shoulder. Not in a rough way, but in a way that was meant to be reassuring. It was a kind gesture.

"I'll walk you back." He said. I didn't feel like arguing, so I just walked in silence with him till we reached the pit.

He patted me on the back a few times and said, "Get some rest you'll be fighting again tomorrow." I nodded and headed toward the dorm.

When I reached the dorm I pulled off enough clothes to be comfortable, and flopped into bed. I thought about everything that had happened over the day. It was a lot to take in. As much as my mind raced, I felt the sleepiness wash over me. I drifted off to sleep.


	3. I'm Tired of This Game

**A/N. Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and everyone who is following the story. I really appreciate all of them. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well. I'm starting on the next one tomorrow, and hope to have it up in a week or so depending on how much homework I have. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent trilogy. **

**I'm Tired of This Game**

I was warm, and comfortable with my blanket snuggled up to my face. I could feel myself waking up, and knew that any moment I would hear a loud metal clank. Just as I thought Four began banging his pipe. He really did enjoy that way too much.

I flopped my covers back, and pulled myself out of bed. My morning routine went by fast, and I was headed down to breakfast in no time. Lynn, Sean, and I all ate quickly we wanted to get to the training room to see who we would be fighting today. It was always a little nerve racking until you knew who you were fighting. Things between Sean and I seemed to be okay. It was better after having a night to sleep on it.

We all walked into the training room, and headed straight for the board. I scanned the list for my name. When I found it my stomach sank. I was fighting Sean. I knew it wasn't random. This was for last night. He put me with him because he thought we were kissing. The sinking feeling in my stomach gave way to anger. I looked at Sean, he looked nervous.

"I guess at some point one of the three of us would end up fighting one of the others." Sean said shakily. I guess it was a good thing he didn't suspect Eric being the one behind this. I didn't really want to draw any attention to whatever weird thing it was we had going on.

"Yeah I guess so…look I want you to win the fight. You're ranked lower than me right now, and I can afford to take the hit more than you." I said. Sean shook his head.

"No. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to hurt you. I won't." He protested.

"You have to. Sean if you don't do this I won't talk to you ever again. You're going to win this fight. I'm not going to argue with you on this." I ordered with the most serious tone I could manage. He looked at me with a pained expression. "Promise me you'll do it, you'll have to knock me out. Just take a few quick hits, I'll leave myself open. I'll hit you a few times first to help it look better." I added.

"Okay. I'll do it." He said defeated. I sighed relieved.

I looked to Eric and Four who were both standing outside of a ring. I scowled at Eric. He was such a jerk, I should have guessed that he would find some way to punish me. Sean and I were last on the list to fight, so we would have to sit through everyone else's fights first. I worried about Sean losing his resolve to do what I asked.

"Okay first fighters in the ring." Four called out once everyone was there. We all gathered around to watch. Lynn and Sophie the small girl from abnegation were paired together. I was happy about that at least. Lynn would win this fight. Part of me felt sorry for Sophie, but it just wasn't likely that she would make the cut.

Lynn and Sophie's fight went quick. It only took Lynn a few punches to take her out. I thought about Ryan and what he had said about helping Lynn out. She would have to win against someone stronger to boost her ranking, but at least this was a win.

The rest of the fights seemed to slowly tick by even though some of them were quick. Then Sean and I were up. Sean's hands were almost shaking as he brought them up to guard his face. I looked him right in the eye as we rounded each other. I tried to silently encourage him to do what he needed to do. We went in circles stalking each other. I knew I needed to hit him a few times, but I was having trouble finding the courage to do it. This was the last thing we needed after the tension between us last night, and now we had to fight.

"Stop playing with each other and fight." Eric said in an irritated tone. I couldn't put it off any longer. I took a shot, and punched him in the stomach. He recovered quickly, and I took another one this time to his side. He came at me quick and caught me in the right cheek. He hit hard, but it didn't send me down. I recovered, and went in to hit him again leaving myself wide open. He took his shot, and hit me hard on the side of my head. I went down this time. Everything was fuzzy, and seemed dull. I was laying there on the mat of the ring. I let my head roll over to the side, and I could see Four and Eric standing there looking at me. I could feel tears running down the sides of my eyes from the pain. Eric looked so angry.

"That's enough. She's done." Eric ordered. I could have gotten back up, I wasn't really done. "Your all done for today. Get out." Eric almost yelled. He was walking over to me. Sean lingered off to my side, he seemed unsure of what to do. Eric was standing over me. "Why are you still here? I said get out." Eric said looking at Sean. His tone wasn't loud, but it was angry and deep. I turned my head, and watched Sean hesitantly walk away. Eric kneeled down next to me, and scooped me up into his arms. He lifted me up, and began carrying me out of the room. I let my face bury into the fabric of his shirt, and I let my free hand wrap firmly around his neck. I was awake, but everything felt muffled.

I assumed we were headed for the infirmary, and about half way there I started to feel like I was coming around. He hadn't said a word since leaving the training room, and I wasn't eager to make conversation, so I just kept my face buried. We finally entered the infirmary, and he gently laid me down on a bed. The nurse that had helped me before quickly came over, and began to look me over. "Let me know when you're done with her." Eric said flatly to the nurse. She nodded, and he walked away out of site.

"Well fancy seeing you here again. I take it you didn't do so well in this fight." She teased.

"No. I didn't win this one." I mumbled not really wanting to elaborate on what had just happened. She took her time checking me over.

"Well I think your fine. You don't even have a concussion. Your cheek will probably bruise. I'll get you an ice pack, and some pain pills." She said as she shuffled away. When she returned she had the ice pack, a cup of water, and the pills. I took the pack from her, and downed the pills. "Just rest here for a few minutes, I'll go get Eric, and then you can leave when you're ready." She said and walked away.

I put the ice pack on my cheek, it stung. I laid back, and closed my eyes. It felt like I had been laying there for a while. It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt longer. I was replaying the fight over again in my mind. I hated having to hit Sean, I'm sure it was just as bad for him. That made me feel even worse. I didn't hear him approach. My eyes were still closed, and I could feel someone brush a strand of hair from my cheek. I opened my eyes, and Eric was standing there leaning against my bed. Maybe I imagined the hair being brushed away. I couldn't see him being that kind.

"Why did you throw that fight?" He asked. His voice was calm, smooth, and deep.

"What are you talking about I didn't throw anything, Sean won." I said sticking to my story. I could see his jaw flex, he wasn't buying it.

"Don't waste my time. I know you lost on purpose. You left your self wide open, and practically stopped and waited for his hits. Why did you do that?" He said with some of the calm leaving his voice.

"What choice did I have? I was ranked higher, so I let him win. Why did you pair us together? I know you did it on purpose." I retorted.

His brows furrowed, and I could see the tension in his body. "Do you think this is a game? You can't throw a fight because you're ranked higher than your boyfriend." He said avoiding my question of why he put us together.

"He is not my boyfriend, and I don't think that this is a game." I said trying my best not to scream out of frustration.

"So you kiss all of your friends then?" He asked his voice calm again, but this time with that venomous edge to it.

"I knew it. You put us together because you _thought_ you saw us kissing. We didn't it was a misunderstanding. We are just friends. I don't know why it's any of your business anyway. I can kiss whoever I want." I said, I wanted to take that last bit back, it seemed like something a little child would say.

"It doesn't matter boyfriend or friend, you can't let yourself be dragged down to help them." He answered still ignoring why he cared who I kissed.

"I am not going to put myself before my friends, if I can help it. If I can do something to help make sure they get through then I'm going to do it, and you can't stop me." I said feeling bold. I could see the anger building in his blue eyes. As mad as I was I couldn't help but stare at them. They were vibrant, and it was hard not to get a little lost in the way he looked at me. Even when he was mad, or maybe especially when he was mad.

"You're really that stubborn?" He asked simply.

"Yes. Are you just mad about this because of the whole leadership thing?" I questioned.

"Ryan has a big mouth. I'm assuming he is the one who told you?" He asked in a way that said he already knew the answer.

"Yes. He told me last night. What if I'm not interested?" I added that last part just to irritate him.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't want a chance at a leadership position?" He asked.

"Well no…I want it." I answered.

"Then why would you throw a fight? If you want it then you have to act like it, you can't put yourself aside for your friends. If they deserve to make it they will." He lectured.

"I want the chance at it, but I refuse to not help my friends if I can." I said sticking to what I believed. He shook his head. He looked more frustrated than angry now.

"Fine. Are you feeling better?" He asked. I was feeling better.

"Yeah I think the pain pills are kicking in. I'm hungry." I answered him.

"Let's go then, I'll walk you to the cafeteria." He said the edge leaving his voice. I could have argued, but considering everything I thought it was best to just go with it. I climbed out of the bed, and when I tried to stand I stumbled a little. He caught me, and helped me stand. I wasn't sure if it was from almost getting knocked out, or because he was here so close again. His hands were holding me at my waist, and where they touched tingled. My legs turned to jelly, and began to buckle just a little. He held onto me, and kept me upright.

"You're not okay you should lay back down." He said. My head wasn't the problem. It was him. I couldn't tell him that though. I had to get myself together.

"No. I'm fine…it's not from the fight." I said trying to sound convincing. He looked at me for a long moment. I steadied myself, and his hands slipped from my waist. I was standing on my own. He gave in.

"Okay." Was all he said.

I led the way, but he kept his hand resting gently against my back the whole way. I had to do my best not to go weak in the knees again.

"Do you have to do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" He said.

"Keep your hand on my back." I answered.

"Are you going to fall again?" He asked.

"I told you I'm fine. I'm not going to fall." I said a little exasperated. He didn't say anything else, and he didn't move his hand. I got the feeling he did it just because I asked him not to do it, or was it something else?

We reached the cafeteria, and he finally let his hand fall away. I walked straight over to my table Lynn, Sean, and Four were all in their usual spots. Eric headed off to his usual spot as well. I sat down at the end of the table. Lynn was next to me, Sean was next to her, and Four was across from me. As soon as I sat down Sean and Lynn both asked if I was okay.

"I'm fine, just hungry." I answered. I looked over at Four, he was staring at me.

"You're lucky you didn't get cut for pulling what you did today." He said, I could hear the anger in his voice. Great I was going to get lectured by him too.

"Yeah I know. I don't really want to talk about it anymore." I said before stuffing my mouth full of potatoes. He shook his head, and thankfully went back to eating.

It had turned out to be a weird day. I had a lot to think about. I quickly finished eating, and headed straight for the dorm. I wanted to just lay in bed, and think things over. As I walked from the cafeteria I looked back at Eric. He was watching me as usual, and as I walked away I got the feeling he was tempted to follow me. I was leaving on my own, Lynn and Sean were still taking their time eating and talking. When I headed out the door he was still sitting in his spot though, so I assumed he stayed.

When I got to the dorm I flopped onto my bed. I thought about the conversation Eric and I had in the infirmary. He just dropped the subject out of nowhere, and I was too tired at the moment to argue more. I was regretting that now. If he dropped the subject what exactly did that mean. He wasn't going to just let it go. I wondered if I would be fighting Lynn tomorrow. He knew right away that is was Ryan who told me about the leaderships grooming. I hoped that didn't get him into trouble because if it did then he was probably going to come looking for me. Eric never did answer any of my questions about why he cared that I kissed Sean. I saw the look on his face when we were just dancing, and he looked mad. Now that I thought about he looked mad when Sean rubbed my back the other night too, and the whole thing with Conner. He pitted me against him to punish me, but then he obviously did or said something to Conner to make him stop messing with me. Everything about him was confusing. I couldn't figure out what game he was playing at. The more I thought about everything the more I felt like a stupid pawn being shuffled around. I needed to be more careful especially around him.

I wasn't sure how long I had been laying there. Lynn and Sean came walking in the door, and headed straight for me. We had the dorm all to our-selves. Lynn plopped down on her bed which was next to mine, and Sean stood at the ends of our beds awkwardly. The tension was still there, and the fight didn't help. I scooted over to one side of my bed.

"Sean come on you can hang out on my bed." I said. He looked at me with an uncertain expression. "Come on." I said. We were going to get past this weird tension. He finally came and flopped down on my bed. I felt a little relieved. If we could go back to doing the normal friend stuff we did before it could help us get past all of the weirdness.

"Are you really okay? I didn't hurt you too bad did I?" Sean asked nervously.

"No I'm fine." I said trying to reassure him.

"Okay." He said.

"So Eric walked you back into the cafeteria, did he stay with you the whole time?" Lynn asked.

"Umm yeah he waited while I got checked out." I answered simply.

"Are you in trouble?" He asked.

"Well no, I don't think so. It's hard to tell. We talked about the fight, and he knew I threw it, but he never said I was in trouble. He just kind of dropped the subject, and then we walked back to the cafeteria." I explained. Lynn looked a little nervous. I wondered how much she knew about the leadership thing. Ryan may have told her about it.

"How much do you talk with Ryan? What has he told you?" I questioned her. She sighed.

"He told me about how they are interested in you for leadership." She answered. Sean sat up.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Apparently Ella is being groomed for leadership if she passes initiation. That's why Eric pays so much attention to her." Lynn explained.

"So does that mean you have a free pass through?" He asked.

"No it doesn't I still have to get through, and I have to be in first or second place to be considered." I said.

"Do you want the leadership position?" Sean asked.

"Yeah I do." I answered honestly.

"Then you can't put me or Lynn ahead of yourself again." Sean said. I felt like I was being lectured by Eric again.

"I want that position, but if I can help you guys then I will." I said.

"No you can't. We will get through on our own, we don't need you to put yourself at risk for us." Lynn said sternly.

"Okay I get it. I can still help both of you though and me. We should all start training in our free time. We can spar together after dinner. No one else spends extra time practicing, and it could help all of us do better in our fights." I said. Lynn and Sean both looked like they were up for it.

"Okay we can do that. We'll spend some extra time training after dinner." Lynn said. Sean agreed too. I felt relieved like we had some control over how we were going to do. I was still curious about exactly what Ryan had talked to Lynn about though. I wondered if there was more she knew.

"What else has Ryan told you?" I asked.

"Well they are looking at him for the leadership position too." She answered.

"Does he want the position?" I asked even though I suspected he didn't.

"Not really…that's kind of why he talked to you about everything. He was hoping you would be interested, so it would take the pressure off of him, and since Eric seemed to be taking so much interest in you he thought it was a safe bet." She explained.

"Okay I get that. Have you guys noticed Eric's interest in me?" I asked curiously. They both looked at each other. That didn't seem good.

"We may not have noticed so much if you weren't always staring back, and looking around for him." Lynn said with a little grin. I could feel my cheeks blush. I hadn't really thought about anyone paying attention to me looking at him.

"Oh." Was all I could say. I felt too self-conscious to add anything else.

"Why do you always do that?" Lynn questioned. I shrugged.

"I don't know it's just a habit I formed." I answered. I wasn't really sure why I always looked at him, I just did. I guess I also had a habit of looking for him every time I entered a room too. I didn't really want to explain my preoccupation with him to them.

"Should we go train for a little while now?" I asked. It was only the late afternoon, and we could get a few hours in before dinner if we wanted.

"Are you sure you're up to it? You almost got knocked out a few hours ago?" Sean asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. We can just practice technique, and take it easy today." I said. They gave in and agreed. We spent a few hours practicing before going to dinner, and all went to bed early. If we were going to spend extra time training we were going to all need a good night's sleep.

I woke up early, Four wasn't in our room banging his pipe yet. I decided to get up anyway, and get my shower done early. When I was done with my shower, and had gotten dressed I decided to head down to breakfast by myself. I didn't want to wake Sean and Lynn.

When I reached the cafeteria I headed straight for my spot. Four was the only one there at our table, and Eric was in his usual seat back behind us. I couldn't help but look at him before I sat down. He didn't look mad. He looked maybe a little curious about why I was there so early. I turned away and started eating.

"You're up early today." Four said.

"Yeah I woke up early, and just decided to get ready and come to breakfast." I said.

"You ready to fight again today?" He asked. I looked up at him. He looked like he was sizing me up trying to gage if I was going to pull something again probably.

"Yes. I'm ready to fight whoever I get matched with." I answered. He seemed to be satisfied with my answer. He nodded and went back to eating. He finished eating, and got up to leave. I assumed it was time to go wake everyone up. I looked back behind me, and Eric was getting up to leave too. He was probably headed for the training room. I wanted to get up and follow him. I looked down at my food though, and decided to finish eating first.

I had ate quickly, and headed for the training room. When I walked in Eric was putting names on the board, matching us up for our fights. I walked over to him, and waited for him to finish. When he was done he stepped back next to me. I looked at the board. I was first on the list, and I was paired with Owen one of the Amity boys. He was a fair opponent for me. I glanced to Eric, and he was looking at the board.

"I hope Owen's not one of your boyfriends I wouldn't want you to throw this fight too." Eric said with a hint of sarcasm. I turned to look at him with a scowl.

"I already told you I wouldn't do that again. I made a mistake, and I don't have any boyfriends." I said trying my best to keep my cool. He looked at me with a cheeky smirk.

"Feeling a little mad?" He asked. I glared at him without giving him an answer. "I'll take that as a yes. Good you can use that in the ring today." He said before leaning close to my ear. "Stay focused. I want to see you win today." He rested a hand on my shoulder with a gentle squeeze, and said it just loud enough for me to hear before walking over to stand next to the ring we would be fighting in.

I felt my brows furrow. He was so frustrating. He was just teasing me, and then the next second I think he was trying to encourage me? I wanted to scream. I took a deep breath, and walked over to a thick piece of concrete slab that served as a bench. I sat down, and tried to clear my head. I tried to think about Owen, and the last time I saw him fight. Owen was bigger than me, but he was slower. He had a tendency to hesitate before he took a shot. Must be the Amity in him. I could use that. He hits hard, but I'm fast.

I could hear people begin to shuffle into the room. Everyone headed straight for the board to see who they were fighting. Lynn and Sean quickly checked the board when they came in before coming to sit next to me. Lynn was fighting Abby the other Candor girl. I felt a little worried for her, Abby was a lot bigger than Lynn. Sean was fighting James the other Amity boy. Sean could take him. James was smaller, and not the greatest fighter. The bad part about that is that if Sean did win it wouldn't push his rank up much.

Lynn and Sean asked me why I left so early, and I explained that I just woke up early. They both gave each other a look, and I wondered what that was about. Everyone was here now including Four.

"Okay first fight Ella and Owen." Four announced. I got up, and walked into the ring.

I couldn't help but look at Eric. I met with his eyes, and they held mine for a moment before he gave me just the slightest nod. I found that somehow reassuring, and it gave me confidence. I turned my attention to Owen. We rounded each other. I stepped in like I was going to take a shot, but held back. I wanted him to counter me, and he did leaving his stomach open while he leaned toward me. I took advantage of the opportunity, and hit him hard in the stomach three times. I backed off, and rounded with him again. He came at me with a punch to the face, but I blocked it. I took another shot at him this time to the face. I made contact hard with his jaw, but it left my stomach open. He caught me hard once in the stomach making me cough. I recovered quickly, and hit him in the face again. He staggered a little. I needed to end this fight, I needed to use my speed.

I faked a shot again, and Owen took the bait. He blocked his face, and I hit him hard in the stomach again making him bend over. I grabbed the back of his head, and kneed him in the face. As he came back up I finished it off with a hard hit to the head, and he went down. Eric called the fight, and I won.

I stepped out of the ring, and sat back down on the concrete bench next to Lynn and Sean. I looked at Eric, and he gave me a small smile. It was odd, but I felt myself blush a little. It was something about the way he looked at me. I couldn't help but smile back. Lynn and Sean both congratulated me, before we turned our attention to the next fight.

The fights all seemed to move quickly. Sean won his fight with James. I was happy for him, I think he gained some confidence from winning that fight. Lynn and Abby were the last to fight. They entered the ring, and Four told them to start.

Abby was vicious, and went in for a hit before Lynn even brought her arms up to block. Abby hit Lynn twice hard in the face giving her a bloody nose. Lynn tried to recover, but I could tell she was panicking. Abby could see it too. She grabbed Lynn by the neck, and started just pounding away at her. She avoided her face, she was wanting to torture her. She hit her in the stomach over and over. I could barely stand to watch. I looked at Eric, but he just watched with his brows furrowed. Abby could have won the fight quickly, but she was drawing it out. It seemed to go on forever.

Finally Lynn cried out "I give up. I can't. I'm done. Just stop." Abby stopped. Eric moved to the edge of the ring next to Lynn. He leaned down towards her.

"You need to stop? Are you sure you want to give up?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm done." She answered.

"Okay. Fights over." He said, and grabbed Lynn's arm to help her up.

Something was off. It was out of character for Eric to do that. He said that no one could concede, and now he was okay with it? He helped Lynn clean herself up, and then announced that we were going to take a break, and for all of us to follow him. He led the way out of the training room with Lynn at his side. Sean and I followed close behind them. I didn't trust how Eric was acting, something was up. Four followed along till we were near the cafeteria then ducked into there instead of coming along with the rest of us.

We were nearing the chasm, and just as Eric and Lynn reached the walkway he asked her if she was feeling any better. Before she could answer he grabbed her, and tossed over the edge. She clung with one hand on edge of the walkway, and the other holding his hand. He told her to grab the railing or don't it was her choice. I was in a panic. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to run and grab her, but I knew Eric would never let me. I felt Sean tense next to me, I knew he was thinking the same thing. We stood in horror as we watched.

"You have three options. You can hang there, and I'll forget your cowardice, you can fall and die, or you can give up, but if you give up your out." He explained his voice casual, deep, and smooth. He stood over her at the edge of the railing watching her dangle there. I couldn't take it.

"Come on Lynn! You can do this don't give up!" I yelled trying to give her courage. Eric looked at me, his expression full of threat. He didn't have to say anything, I knew not to say another word. It felt like she was hanging there forever, it was worse than watching her fight.

Finally he said, "Okay." He grabbed her arms, and pulled her effortlessly back up onto the walkway. Sean and I ran to her. "Dauntless never give up. Do you all understand?" He asked. No one said a word. "Okay. You have an hour for lunch, then I want you all in the courtyard ready to catch the train. We're taking a field trip to the fence." He announced, and walked back towards the cafeteria.

I was shaking I was so mad. I couldn't believe he had just done that. He could have killed her. I didn't understand him at all. Sean and I helped Lynn get up, and we took her to the infirmary. We let the nurse clean her up, and check her over before going to get something to eat.

Once we were all in our seats in the cafeteria Lynn and Sean dug into their food. Lynn was feeling better now. The nurse gave her some pain medication, and told her to make sure she ate something so that it wouldn't upset her stomach. I just picked at my food, I wasn't very hungry. I was still too mad at Eric. I wanted to hit him. Neither him nor Four where in the cafeteria when we got there, they were probably already done. As soon as we were done eating we went straight to the courtyard to wait for the train.

Everyone else was already there including Eric and Four. We didn't have to wait long for the train. Like always it came speeding along, and we all ran to jump on. Sean got on first, and helped Lynn get up. Four reached out a hand from the back door of the car, I jumped and took his hand. He pulled me in.

"I didn't need your help." I said with a scowl. I had a feeling he knew what Eric was going to do to Lynn.

"I know you didn't." He said simply.

"You knew what he was going to do didn't you?" I questioned. He let out a deep breath.

"Yeah I knew what he was going to do." He answered. Maybe some part of me was still hoping that he didn't know because when he admitted it, it only made me even madder.

"How could you let him do that? He could have killed her? What's wrong with you?" I questioned him feeling exasperated. He shook his head.

"You still really don't get it do you?" He said and walked to the very back of the car without giving me an answer. What did he mean by that? I fumed I had, had it with both of them.

I slunk down against the wall of the car, and brought my knees up to my chest. I put my head down, and tried to clear my mind for the train ride to the fence. It took a while to get out there, but my mind was reeling so fast that it felt like the trip only took a few minutes. I felt the train car start to slow, and come to a stop at the end of the line. Everyone was getting off. I stood, and jumped out the door. I walked over to Lynn and Sean.

"You still doing okay?" I asked Lynn. She gave me a small smile.

"I'll be fine, just sore." She said. Four was standing at the bottom of a set of stairs that led to the top of the fence.

"Okay everyone follow me." He yelled. We all filed in and started climbing the stairs. Eric was right behind Four on the way up. When we made it to the top Four turned to the left and began leading everyone along the fence. Eric took off to the right on his own. I followed him. He walked for a while across the fence before finally stopping. I walked right up to him.

"Why did you do that?" I asked. He looked at me, his eyes hard and cold.

"You said you wanted your friends to succeed, so I helped her out." He said in a matter of fact way. I stared at him for a moment.

"How is almost killing her helping her succeed? In what twisted way was that supposed to help her out?" I questioned not being able to keep the anger out of my tone. I was almost shaking with rage. He stepped a little closer facing me.

"I know you're not stupid, but I guess I have to spell it out for you. She panicked in that fight. It was the first fight she had with someone that was stronger than her, and instead of focusing she let her fear get the best of her. She didn't even try to pull herself together instead she gave up. She quit. Where do you think that would have put her in the ranking at this point? You are almost through the first stage of training. If she can't control her fear, and giving up is the first thing she thinks to do she wouldn't last more than a day in the second stage. I know you think what I did was cruel, but I was trying to do you a favor, and give your friend a fighting chance. Now she knows that she doesn't have to give up. She knows that she's strong enough to keep going, and all the points she lost from that fight were wiped for hanging over the chasm. She still has a chance to stay now, so you're welcome." He said in his smooth deep voice.

I just stood there stupidly looking at him. He brought up a lot of points that hadn't even begun to cross my mind. I hadn't looked at it that way at all. It didn't even occur to me how badly she had done in that fight, all I had thought about was that she was getting hurt. The angry part of me hated that what he said made sense, but it did. He was right, what he did may be what helps her get through. I still had more questions though.

"What would you have done if she fell?" I asked my voice a little calmer, but still shaky.

"I wasn't going to let her fall. I was standing above her, watching. I would know if was going to let go, and it was a risk worth taking if she's going to have any chance of making it through." He answered. I could see some of the hardness leave his eyes.

"Okay well what if she gave up? Why wouldn't you let me encourage her at least? You gave me that _look_." I asked.

"She could have. If she did then she wouldn't deserve to be Dauntless. Friend or not there are some things you can't help with, and I wouldn't let you cheer her on because it was something she needed to do on her own. She needed to know that it was her that got her through it not her friends." He answered.

I could feel the anger melt away. I knew what Four meant now about what he said on the train. I had been too blinded by my friendship to see what was going on.

"Why were you willing to help Lynn out? You haven't done that for Hazel or Sophie, they struggle all the time." I asked. He gave me a frustrated look.

"I thought was obvious, she's your friend. You said you were determined to see them get through, and I don't want you jeopardizing your position." He answered.

Blush crept up onto my cheeks. I looked away from him. We were next to the edge of the wall. There was a short railing, and I leaned over it just a little to look down. We were so high up, and it made me dizzy for a moment. I looked back at him. His eyes looked lighter in the sun light, they were a vibrant blue green, and all the hardness they had earlier was gone. I felt a flutter in my stomach, and that familiar weakness in my knees. I felt them start to give out, but his arms were around me before I had barely even moved. He held me close, and I just stared up at him.

"Afraid of heights?" He asked with a smirk. I suspected he knew it wasn't the heights, and that it was really him that always did this to me.

"We should go, the train will be leaving soon." He said. I glanced out beyond the fence.

"I haven't had the chance to look around." I said.

"Okay we can stay for a few more minutes." He gave in. He turned me to face looking out over the Amity fields. My back was against his chest now. His hand were still firmly wrapped around my waist.

"I'm okay I won't fall." I mumbled. He made no move to pull away.

"I'm not taking any chances." He whispered quietly in my ear. Something about that made me smile to myself. I let myself lean back into him, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe. I looked out over the fields in the distance.

"What's out there?" I asked.

"Pass initiation and you might find out." He said softly.

"You're not going to tell me are you?" I stated more than asked.

"No." He replied. It was a little strange to stand there with him like that. Only a few minutes ago I was so mad at him that I could have pushed him off the edge. Now he was holding me, and it felt nice. I was relaxed, it had been a while since I was able to relax. I felt him step back. He kept his hands on my waist, and pulled me back with him.

"Come on we need to go, I don't want to get stuck out here all night." He said. I was reluctant to leave, and getting stuck out here all night didn't sound that bad. It was nice to just forget everything for a little bit, all the pressure of everything.

"Okay." I said. He gently pushed me forward keeping one hand resting on my back guiding me the way we came. All of the others were just starting to file back down the stairs. We followed them down, and everyone climbed back onto the train. Eric got on first, and then pulled me on. Once we were all on the train it started to move. Eric walked to the other end, and stood next to Four. I found Lynn and Sean. They both gave me concerned looks.

"What were you doing with Eric all by yourself?" Lynn questioned with a frustrated look on her face.

"I was talking to him." I answered. It was true I was.

"About what? Why would you want to talk to him?" She asked. I could see her growing angrier.

"I wanted to talk to him about what happened." I answered. I wasn't sure how to explain things to her and Sean. They were too mad right now.

"Why were you so close to him? I could see you when we started to come back. I thought he was going to push you off the wall." Sean jumped in. I definitely was not in any danger of Eric pushing me off the wall, but I didn't know how to explain why he was so close to me when we were up there.

"He wasn't going to push me off. Look there's more to what went on today than you realize, and I'm not sure right now is the best time to try and explain it." I answered. They both stared at me.

"We'll all talk about it when we get back." I said, and walked across the train car closer to Four and Eric. If I was in earshot of them. Lynn and Sean wouldn't try questioning me anymore.

The train ride back was longer. I tried by best not to look at Lynn and Sean, or Eric. The train began to slow, and I was one of the first to jump off. I landed on my feet. We had about an hour until dinner, so I figured that I might as well get this talk over with. I waited for Sean and Lynn, and once they were off I waved for them to follow me. I wanted to have this conversation in privet. Once we were back inside I led them down a dark hall. I hadn't been that way before, but it looked deserted, and no one else was going to go that way. When we were far enough away I stopped and turned to them.

"Okay what's going on?" Lynn questioned. I looked back at her for a moment preparing myself.

"I know what happened today seemed really bad, but Eric's motives for doing it weren't to hurt you." I answered. They both looked at me like I was crazy.

"You're kidding right? What exactly about what he did today isn't exactly what we think, which is that he is a crazy jerk?" Sean said exasperated. I shook my head. This was going to be harder than I thought.

I glanced back and forth between them and said, "I get it. It looks bad, but Lynn did really badly in her fight. You panicked immediately, and didn't even try to pull yourself out of it. You didn't fight back at all, and then you gave up without ever even trying. He made you hang over the chasm to show you that you were strong enough to not give up, that you could fight back. You lost a lot of points for losing that fight too, and doing what he did canceled them out." I explained.

"He still could have killed her! What if she fell? What if she gave up?" Sean yelled at me. I understood how he felt, I had asked basically the same questions.

"I know. He wouldn't have let her drop, that's why he stood over her the whole time. She could have given up though, but he took the chance anyway. If he didn't and you just kept going, how would you have done in your next fight? What happens if you have to fight Conner or Derick? They are way worse than Abby. I know this sounds harsh, but even the Stiff's haven't given in on a fight. Your next fight will still be hard because they are going to think that if they bully you a little you will give in. I know your both mad, but you have to see the logic in this." I said trying my best to convince them. They both still had hard looks on their faces. I wasn't sure I was getting through.

"Some of it makes sense, but there could have been other ways to get me to see that." Lynn finally said.

"Why are you defending him? I get the feeling your trying to convince us that he's not a bad guy. Why would you do that? And why are you so interested in him? Four told you to keep your distance, but you don't seem to be doing that." Sean drilled. I was feeling really insure about this line of questioning. I didn't want to answer them.

"I'm not trying to defend him, it's just the truth…I don't think he's a bad guy, he's just complicated." I gave them that, but I didn't really want to elaborate any more than that. Sean huffed and threw his arms up in the air.

"This is crap. I'm done talking about it, I'm going to go get something to eat." He said as he walked away. Lynn just looked at me then turned and walked away with Sean.

Great they were both mad at me now. I had never seen Sean act that way, and I felt unsure if we would still be friends after this. Part of me was hurt that they didn't trust or believe me, and the other part of me said you never had friends before you can go back to not having friends again. I knew that last part wasn't true though. Now that I had made some friends I really didn't want to lose them. I just had to give them some time, and maybe they would come around.

I took my time walking to the cafeteria. I was hungry. I didn't eat much during lunch. I debated avoiding them all together, but I didn't know if that was a good idea or not. As I neared the cafeteria doors I saw Eric walking to them from the opposite side. He stopped and waited for me at the door.

"Not eating with your friends?" He asked with a little smirk. He must have known we would end up fighting. I glared at him. His smirk just grew.

"Do you really want to go in there?" He asked. I really _didn't _want to go in there.

"No not really." I said honestly.

"Okay then wait here." He said. What was he up too? I shrugged and nodded. I leaned up against the wall while I waited. A few minutes later he was back with a bag.

"Come on, let's go." He said grabbing my hand, and tugged me along with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see when we get there." He answered cryptically. He led me down a hall I didn't recognize before taking a stair case. We climbed for a while before coming out onto another long hall. We walked to the very end to a door. He opened it, and led us out onto a flat roof. We walked to the left where there was a small alcove from where the rest of the roof dropped down. The bottom of it made a nice bench to sit on. It over looked the city. He sat down, and I sat next to him.

It was the second time in one day that I was alone with him in a high place. He opened the bag and pulled out a sandwich. He handed it to me, and took one out for himself. We both ate in silence just enjoying the view. When we were done he took out a container of water, and passed it to me. I took a few sips before handing it back. He took a drink, and leaned back against the slope of the roof.

"How often do you come up here?" I asked leaning back too.

"Once in a while, when I don't feel like being down there." He answered as he turned to look at me. "I'm guessing you told your friends about what we talked about earlier." He stated more than asked.

"Yeah I told them about it. They're both mad at me now instead of just being mad at you." I said.

"They'll get over it, and if they don't they won't be your friends anymore." He said looking back out at the view of the city.

"Do you not want them to get over it? Do you want them to not be my friends anymore?" I asked. I wanted to know if this was just another one of his games. He sat up, and looked at me again.

"What happens between you and your friends is your business, you know what I did today wasn't about causing problems with them." He said his voice was softer, and didn't hold an edge to it.

I scooted over closer to him. I wanted to feel safe, and comforted again. He seemed to know. His arm wrapped around my back, and pulled me closer to him. I leaned my head on his shoulder. He smelled nice like soap, and something else mint maybe. We sat quietly for a long time just watching the city. I started to get sleepy, and I could feel myself start to dose off.

"It's late, you need to get to bed." He whispered quietly to me.

I buried my face into his shoulder and mumbled, "No. I don't want to go back to my dorm. I'll just sleep here tonight." I felt him stroke my hair before pulling away as he stood up. He took my hand, and I stood up too.

I figured it was useless to argue with him. He led me back through the door, but this time as we walked down the hall he passed the stair case, and kept going till he reached a door close to the end of the hall. He pulled out a key, and opened it. He went in, and flicked on a light. It was soft blue like the lights in the hall. He closed the door behind us, and locked it.

"Is this your room?" I asked. He nodded. He took my hand again, and led me over to a bed. It was much larger than the dorm beds.

"You can take the bed." He said. I looked at him.

"Where are you going to sleep?" I asked. He pointed to a large oversized chair. It was big enough that we could probably both fit snugly in it.

"I don't want to take your bed, I'll sleep in the chair." I said walking toward the chair.

"No. Just get in the bed, I fall asleep in the chair half the time anyway." He countered, gently pushing me back toward the bed. I sighed, and sat down. I noticed that there was a small stack of books on a little table that sat between the bed and chair. I forgot that he was an Erudite transfer too. I guess aspects of that still remained.

I pulled off my boots, and slipped under the blankets. He walked off to another door off of the room, I assumed it was a bathroom. I couldn't sleep in pants. I didn't want to take the chance of changing in front of him, so I wiggled out of them under the covers. I did the same with my bra, my boobs couldn't sleep in boob jail. I put my pants and bra on the open space of bed next to me. When he came back he was in a softer looking t-shirt, and pants that hung loosely at his waist. He turned off the light, and the only illumination left in the room came from a row of large windows that covered the wall behind the chair and bed. It was faint, but I could just make him out as he sat in the chair. I snuggled the blankets up around my face, they smelled like him. The sent gave me that soft relaxed feeling, and I drifted off to sleep.


	4. All You're Giving Me is Friction

**A/N. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, follows. BelleNoelle thank you for your suggestions I had been debating about the format for a bit. I was going off of something that an author does that I like, but I think you're right it would be more readable to break it up. This chapter has a new format. I hope it works a little better. Let me know if you all like it or not. I can always tweak it again. I bring in a few new characters in this chapter to stir things up a bit. I hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Trilogy.**

**All You're Giving Me Is Friction**

I could feel someone gently shaking my upper arm. I wasn't really coherent yet. I slowly opened my eyes, and Eric was sitting on the bed next to me. He looked showered and dressed. I was laying on my side, and I had all of the blankets gathered up next to me like a body pillow with my arm and leg wrapped around them.

"You got to get up. You only have about an hour to get ready and eat something." Eric said leaning over me a little. His hand moved from my arm, and slipped over my back.

"I just wanna stay in bed today." I mumbled burying my face into the blankets. He began to gently rub my back. Every movement sent that familiar tingle down my spine. A soft "_Mmmm"_ escaped me, I didn't mean it to, but that feeling was a little intoxicating. I was glad my face was still buried in the blankets because the soft sound I made caused me to blush. I could almost feel him smirk.

"No. Come on you have to get up. You're going to like training today." He said still rubbing, but moving from my upper back to my lower back.

I bit my lower lip to keep from making another sound. The softness of that touch in that area was almost too much. It felt amazing…too amazing. It was amazing in that way that relaxed, and comforted you. I rolled over taking the blanket with me. "Okay I'll get up." I grumbled. "What's going to be so great about training today?" I asked wondering what he had in store for me.

He wore that smirk that I had suspected would be there. "You'll just have to wait and see. Bringing a jacket, and pulling your hair back today would be helpful." He answered. His hand had moved from my back to my hip when I rolled over. I felt his thumb graze the sensitive skin there, and it almost made me squeak. Before I could move he stood up.

I sat up, and grabbed my pants which were still lying on the bed next to me. I wiggled into them under the blanket. Once I buttoned my pants I sat up, and pulled on my boots. Eric was standing next to the bed with his arms folded over his chest wearing an impatient look. I hopped out of the bed, and walked towards the door. He followed me.

I stopped with my hand on the door knob, and turned to him letting my back lean against the door. "Thanks for letting me stay here." I said with a sheepish smile. I was about to turn away, but he stepped closer placing his hand against the door just behind my shoulder. He had me almost pinned against the door. He had that air of intimidation about him again.

"It's not exactly against the rules for you to be here, but it's definitely frowned upon for an initiate to spend time with an instructor outside of training, so be discrete about it. Do you understand?" He said his voice low and deep. I barely registered what he was saying. All I could think about was his eyes and how intense they could be, and the sound of his voice the way every word made me almost shiver. I needed to get a hold of myself. I did my best to reel myself back in, I didn't understand why he had such an intense effect on me.

"Mmm hmm I understand." I answered. It came out a little shaky, but that only made him smirk just slightly. He backed away giving me enough room to open the door. Once I was out I took a quick look around before taking off for the dorm at a run, if I wanted something to eat I was going to have to hurry.

The moment I was through the dorm door, I quickly pulled my clothes off, and flung them on my bed. I grabbed my shower stuff, and quickly worked through my routine. The two Abnegation girls were the only two still there. I finished up in the shower, and got dressed. I grabbed my jacket remembering what Eric had said.

I ran to the cafeteria, I had about fifteen minutes to eat something. Sean and Lynn were still sitting and eating when I walked in. I debated for a moment whether or not I wanted to go sit by them. Avoiding them out in the open could make things worse. I sat down at the end of the table. Lynn was next to me. I chanced a look at her. She gave me a small pursed lipped smile, and her eyes said she was still angry.

"You didn't come back to the dorm last night, where did you stay?" Lynn asked the tone of her voice had a cold edge to it. I wondered if she really cared where I was, or if she was just asking out of curiosity. I didn't want to answer her question, if I told her where I was she might not ever forgive me. I had to tread carefully, she was Candor and would know if I lied. I kept my head down, and my mouth full.

"I wondered around for a while, and fell asleep in the hall." I said trying not to spit food everywhere. I was really hungry, and I didn't have time to waste talking, so really I was just tackling two things at once. I didn't dare look at her.

"That's stupid you should just have come back to the dorm." Sean chimed in. I had been wondering if he was even going to acknowledge me. His tone was a lot lighter than Lynn's. I chanced looking at him. He didn't look angry, he even gave a modest smile. Maybe our friendship would recover.

"Sorry. I guess I should have, I just needed to clear my head, and I didn't want to upset you guys anymore." I answered him. All of that was true it didn't really matter where I had actually spent the night.

"He's right you should have just come back." Lynn turned to look at me. "We obviously don't agree exactly about what happened yesterday. We both have some valid points, and we seem to stand firm on them. I don't want to fight with you anymore, I just want my friend back, so can we just put this all behind us and move on?" Lynn said her tone softer now, and she seemed to sincerely want things back the way they were. I was surprised to hear her say all of that. She still looked so mad when I had first sat down. I wasn't going to argue with her though if she wanted to let it go.

I hugged her, and she laughed a little. "I agree let's just forget it, I don't want to not be friends." I said before getting up. I walked behind Sean, and gave him a hug too. Making up with them made me feel like I could breathe again. The table was clearing out. We needed to get going.

I took a few more bites of food before the three of us headed off to the training room. When we walked in everyone else was already there. The gun range was set up again. I looked for Eric. He was leaning against the wall with a large gun and a bag. He looked the way he did the first day I saw him. Buttoned up in his jacket he looked like he had cornered the market on intimidation.

"Okay we will be working with guns again today. Take a gun and get to work." Four announced. Everyone went for the gun they had set up. I knew I wouldn't be shooting with them. Eric was already moving towards me with the gun slung over his shoulder, and the bag in his hand.

"Come on lets go." Eric said as he walked passed me. I turned quickly and followed him. I didn't ask any questions till we reached the court yard. Curiosity finally won out.

"Where are we going?" I asked. I stood next to him. He looked at me with that smirk of his. I caught a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

"Do you know what kind of gun this is?" He questioned. I honestly didn't know exactly what kind of gun it was, but I had a guess.

"Some sort of rifle?" I asked feeling unsure.

"It's a sniper rifle. It can shoot up to eight hundred yards, and holds twenty rounds." He informed me.

"You still haven't told me where we're going." I pushed. He seemed to enjoy making me chase certain questions around. It was frustrating.

"You'll see when we get there." He answered vaguely. I rolled my eyes. I should have known he wouldn't tell me. I could hear the train, and it was only moments till it came sweeping by. We both ran. He easily jumped up, and pulled himself into the car. He dropped the bag, and reached out for me. I could get on by myself, but I took his arm anyway. He pulled me in, and we both leaned against the wall of the car. We road in silence for a while. I didn't bother asking about where we were going again. I knew he wouldn't tell me.

"This is our stop." Eric said, and jumped from the car of the train. I followed him a moment later. I landed on my feet, I was getting good at getting on and off the trains. We were near the marsh. Eric grabbed my hand lead me down a wooden planked path. We walked for a while till we came to a small slight incline. The ground was dry on the small hill, and he set the bag down. He pulled the rifle off of his shoulder, and turned to face me.

"We're going to see if you have the aptitude for sniper shooting today. This is going to be a lot more labor intensive than the other shooting you've done. If you do have the aptitude for this than if you pass initiation a position on a sniper team could be an option for you. Today we are just going to see how well you can shoot. If you do well then later we will train you on all of the aspects of being a sniper, and how to use the equipment." Eric explained.

"I thought snipers worked alone, but you said there on a team?" I asked.

"Snipers work in teams of two. There is a sniper and a spotter. The spotter calculates and directs the hit, and it's the snipers job to hit the mark accurately. The spotter is sort of a more experienced sniper." He answered as he opened the bag, and pulled out a scope. He began setting it up at the ridge of the small hill.

"So how many teams are there? Are you on a team? Who's your partner?" I battered him with questions. He smiled and shook his head a little, as he finished adjusting the scope. He then went to setting up the rifle. He made a few adjustments to the scope that was attached to the gun before coming to stand in front of me.

"There are eight teams. Yes I'm on one…sort of. I work alone, I don't have a partner." He answered taking a step closer. He grabbed the hem of my jacket, and zipped it up for me. He brushed my hair over my shoulder.

"I thought I told you to put your hair up." He said furrowing his brows. I remembered the jacket, and forgot to put my hair up. Why did he care about that anyway?

"I forgot. I remembered the jacket. Why does that matter anyway?" I asked. Then the wind blew, and my hair went all over. He grinned.

"That's why. Okay let's get started." He said pointing to the gun. I walked over and laid down next to the gun on my stomach. I positioned it till I was comfortable. Eric was kneeling down next to me. He checked the small separate scope again. "Okay I've already zeroed out this gun, so it's ready to shoot…zeroing out means that the guns sights and scope are calibrated for accuracy. If you do well that will be one of the things you learn how to do. Look in the scope and you'll see your target. It's about seven hundred and fifty yards out. I'm going to account for the wind, and we will adjust your scope." I watched him as he checked his scope again before reaching to my gun and adjusting a dial on the side of it. "That should be good. Take your time and line up your shot." He said.

The breeze kicked back up and my hair blew all over again. He laughed. It was hard to concentrate with my hair in my face. I felt him gently gather up my hair and hold it in place at the base of my neck. It was almost more distracting than having it blow all over the place.

"I'm not sure that's helping." I said. I knew that he would know what I meant. I had told him before that I couldn't concentrate with him too close or touching me.

"When you're in the field there are sometimes a lot of distraction that you have to block out. Consider it practice. Besides if you do well at this, and get through imitation you'll be my new partner." He said as he stroked the back of my neck with a finger. It made my back arch just a little. The touch was so light, but so intense. I didn't know what to say about me possibly being his sniper partner.

"Do you want me to be your partner?" I asked already somehow knowing it was going to be one of those questions he would avoid.

"Focus on what you're doing. Line up your shot, and when you're ready take it." He said avoiding it like I thought. I looked through scope and lined up my shot in the cross hairs. I waited a moment then took the shot. I clipped the edge of my target. Crap. It was way off.

"That's good for your first one. You hit the target." He said. I sat up a little and looked at him, he gently let me hair go.

"I just barely clipped the target. I was way off." I said frowning a little. The last time I was off on a shot he gave me a hard time about it.

"Considering the distance you're firing at, and it being your first one, that was a good first shot. Firing at this distance is really hard, and often you don't make your shot at all until you've had a lot of practice." He explained. I smiled a little. "Go again. Use all of your rounds, but take your time with each one." He said. I turned back over, and he held my hair for me again.

I took my time like he told me to between each shot. I missed the next three times, but after that I slowly made my way closer to the center of the target. When I ran out of rounds he showed me how to reload, and I went again. I did better and finally hit the center of my target five rounds in. We reloaded the gun twice more before he told me that we needed to get back. It was getting close to lunch time. He packed everything up, and we walked back to the tracks to wait for the train.

"So do you think I could be a sniper?" I asked breaking the silence. He gave me that smirk that I found myself growing fond of.

"Yeah I think you could be a sniper." He answered. The train was speeding toward us, and we got ready to jump on. When it was close he ran and jumped on first again. He held out his arm for me, and I took it. I leaned my back against the wall and slid down it. He did that same.

"What are we doing when we get back?" I asked.

"You are taking a break for lunch then training with everyone else for the rest of the day. You'll be working at the big bags." He answered leaning his head against the wall of the car, and closing his eyes.

The ride back seemed to go by quickly, and soon we were jumping off of the train again. He walked with me to the cafeteria, but stopped at the door.

"I have to put this away, I'll see you in the training room." He said. I nodded and watched him walk away before going in. Sean, Lynn, and Four were already there eating. I walked over and took my seat. I piled food onto my plate.

"How did it go?" Four asked nodding at me. I took a bite of food.

"It went good. If it make it through initiation I might be a sniper." I answered him with my mouth full. He smiled I think more about the fact that I was talking with my mouth full.

"So that's what you were doing all morning?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah we went out to the marsh, and I got to use a sniper rifle." I said smiling. "It was pretty awesome." I added excitedly. It was awesome I couldn't wait to go out again. I stuffed my mouth full of food. I was hungry, and we would have to head back to the training room soon.

"Hey Ryan's headed over here with his brother, do I look okay?" Lynn asked me nudging my shoulder. I looked at her. She looked fine. No food on her face or anything, and her hair wasn't crazy or anything.

"Yeah you look fine." I said grinning at her. "You wanna look nice for your _boyfriend_" I teased. That made her blush a little. She kicked my foot under the table, and I laughed. A moment later Ryan was standing behind us. He put his arms around Lynn, and gave her a hug. They were kind of adorable. Someone walked around behind me over to the other side of the table, and sat down next to Four.

"Not going to introduce me to your new friend's brother?" He asked. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"This is my big brother Alexander. This is Ella, you know Lynn, and this is Sean." Ryan introduced us all to his brother. I had barely glanced at him when he sat down, but now I looked right at him. He had the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. His hair was dark like Ryan's almost black, but with a softness to it. He had it nice and short on the sides, but let it go longer on top in sort of organized dishevelment. He had dark arching eyebrows that contrasted with his pale eyes. His lips were what really caught my attention though, he had such full pouty lips the upper one just fuller than the lower. Good looks apparently ran in Ryan's family. I could see tattoos peaking our around the collar of his shirt, and creeping down his upper arms. It was hard to say what exactly the design was, but I was curious. I realized that I was staring, and I felt a small flicker of panic. I suddenly felt really warm. I still had my jacket on, and zipped up.

"Well it's nice to meet all of you." Alexander said only looking at me. He had a sort of soft smirk lingering across his lips. It was so hard not to look at him. "My brother's been telling me about you Ella." He said with that smirk growing. What exactly had Ryan been telling him?

"Oh? What has he been saying?" I asked glancing at Ryan who had wedged himself between me and Lynn. He gave me a cocky grin. I looked back at Alexander.

"Just a little about how well you're doing…and how pretty you are. I think he was a little modest in his description though. You're much more impressive in person." He answered still looking right at me. My cheeks grew hot. I wanted to pull my jacket over my head, and hide.

Four punched Alexander in the arm. "Knock it off Alex." Alexander laughed, and punched him back.

"I work with Four in the control room, and we were initiates together." Alexander explained. "So tonight we are having a little get together, and I would like it if you all came. You too Four you're not getting out of this one, it's tradition for you to come." He announced. The last time I went to something Ryann had invited us too I ended up in trouble with Eric. I wondered if I was going to have the same luck with his brother. Alexander got up, and walked around the table again. He stopped beside me and leaned down close to my ear. "I especially want to see you come tonight." He whispered. The feeling of his breath ghosting across my skin made my stomach tingle.

"I'll be there." I said quietly. Ryan was getting up to leave with him. I turned and watched them walk away. Lynn scooted closer to me again. I looked at her, and she was wearing a big grin. She leaned close to my ear.

"He likes you." She whispered with almost a giggle.

"Umm yeah I kind of got that impression too." I answered. Four was glaring at me. I gathered he wasn't happy about Alexander's interest in me. He seemed to taking on this whole big brother thing with me, I wasn't sure I cared much for that.

"Don't give me that look Four." I snapped at him. He cocked his head a little to one side, and gave me a frustrated look.

"Don't forget that I'm still your instructor." He said in a serious tone. I nodded at him, and got up. I wanted to get to the training room early. Lynn and Sean stayed to finish eating. As I walked through the door, and turned to head toward the training room I almost ran into Eric.

"You should watch where you're going." He teased in a soft deep silky tone as he gently stopped me by the shoulders to keep me from planting my face into his chest. I looked up at him with a little smile. "Are you going to the training room?" He asked.

"Yeah I was going to get there early, and hit the big bag." I answered. He hands slipped from my shoulders down my arms before letting me go.

"I'll see you there in a little while. There are few technical things I want you to work on with your punches." He said as he stepped around me, and walked into the cafeteria. I looked over my shoulder to watch him walk away before I took off to the training room.

When I got there I peeled off my jacket, and went straight for the bags. I picked one at the back end. I always like to be on the end it didn't feel so closed in. I hadn't been at hitting the bag long before people starting coming back from lunch. Sean and Lynn came right over to me as soon as they got there. Four was right behind them. He instructed everyone to work at the bags, and everyone went to work. Lynn took the bag next to me, and Sean the one next to her.

We were at it for about twenty minutes before I noticed Eric walk in. He talked to Four for a few minutes before heading in my direction. I took another hit, and stop to look at him.

"Okay what were you going to show me?" I asked biting my lower lip. I watched his eyes trail over me coming back up to linger at my lips. He smirked just a little, and stepped closer to me.

"I want to show you how to throw a heavier punch. You have strong legs, and that's where the force for your punch really starts, but you don't use it to your advantage." He said placing his hands on my hips tilting them so the right side was back. "If you throw a punch with your right hand then your left leg is what stabilizes you. You need to make sure that you are fully stable on that leg when you start to throw your punch or you lose force." He said moving his hand up to my stomach. My knees almost buckled under me. I had to lean back against him to stop myself. He laughed a little. "You need to learn how to control that." I didn't say anything, I just took a deep breath and steadied myself. "Okay you need to keep tension here, and follow through smoothly when you hit. The quicker you can throw the punch the more force you will deliver." He finished explaining. I thought that he was going to move away, but leaned close to my ear. "Try not to go weak in the knees when you're punching someone." He whispered, and then let his hands slip away from me as he stepped back. I blushed a little. "Okay try it." He said nodding at the bag.

I took a breath, and took my first hit then another. After about five times I felt like I was getting the hang of it, and it did feel like I was hitting harder the bag moved a lot more than usual.

"That looks good keep going, alternate you're throwing arm every two punches." He order as he stepped behind Lynn. That made me feel a little nervous. "Were you paying attention to anything I just explained to her?" He asked Lynn. She just stared at him blankly for a long moment. He leaned forward and raised his brows. "Well? Sometime today initiate." He said in his cocky tone. Lynn shook her head a little.

"Yeah I was listening." She said with too high of a tone.

"Then try it. You don't have as much muscle in your legs. You need to work on that, but you could still throw a decent punch. I'm going to have you all work at the bag for another hour then have you do circuit training for another hour. I want you to focus on working your legs. Do you understand?" He asked still looking at Lynn. She nodded.

"Good then get to it." He said look at Sean. "You. You have good form, you just hesitate when you're in the ring. You do realize that the quicker you knock them out the fast you can get of the ring right?" He asked. Sean much like Lynn looked shock that he was talking directly to him. Sean just nodded. Eric looked annoyed. "Work on the same thing I just showed them." He said walking away.

Sean and Lynn both looked at me. I shrugged. I wasn't really sure why he went out of his way to offer them advice as well as me. Lynn leaned closer to me.

"What was that about? Why did he just help us out? I know he always helps you, but he never helps anyone else." Lynn questioned.

"Maybe he just felt like helping you guys." I answered before turning back to my bag. I think Lynn knew I wasn't going to elaborate on the situation anymore, and turned back to her bag as well.

We did what Eric asked us to do, and worked on the bags for an hour before doing another hour of circuit training. We still had about three hours until dinner time, and then we would be going to Ryan, and Alexander's get together. Lynn wanted to get some new clothes since all of our shirt were just plain tank tops. Sean wasn't really too interested in shopping, but Lynn said he had to go because we needed a guy's opinion.

We headed back to the shop we had gone to the first time we had got clothes. Lynn fell in love with a strapless dress right away. It looked good on her. It was simple black fitted at top, and flared out at the skirt resting just above her knees. I looked around through racks of shirts. I found a light weight sweater that may have been the softest thing I had ever felt. It was black of course, and had a very wide neck. Lynn insisted that I try it on. When I came out her and Sean both whistled, it was stupid, but it made me blush. It did look nice. It fit snuggly, and left my shoulders exposed.

"We should get tattoos." Lynn said excitedly. Sean seemed to light up at that idea. I wasn't sure I wanted on yet. I wanted to wait till I felt like I had earned it.

"I don't think I'm going to get one tonight. I want to wait till after we get through the first stage of training." I said. They both gave me disappointed looks. "Nice try, but that's not going to change my mind." I warned them.

We bought our things and headed for the tattoo shop. It didn't take them long to pick something that they liked. Lynn got a phoenix on her shoulder, and Sean got the dauntless seal on forearm. They looked good. When we were done there we decided that heading back to the dorm to take a shower before dinner was a good idea. When we were done we headed down to dinner. I wore my new sweater, and Lynn wore her new dress. Dinner went by quickly, and before I knew it the three of us were waiting for Ryan and Alexander in the pit.

We had been there for about five minutes when we saw them coming from one of the hallways. They came right over to us.

"You look amazing." Alexander said taking my hand. Ryan grabbed Lynn, and Sean followed us.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Alexander looked back at me with those pale blues eyes, and a grin.

"You'll see." He answered cryptically. He led us down a long hallway. It seemed to stretch on forever before we came to an elevator. He hit the up button, and we all waited for the door. When it opened we all piled in. When it took off it went so fast it made my stomach flutter, and l leaned into Alexander. He gave me a playful smirk, but said nothing. When we stopped the door opened and we all walked out. Alexander led me a short distance to another door. He opened it and it led out onto a roof.

There were people everywhere some of them I recognized. Four was there standing with a group of people laughing and talking. It was strange to see him laugh like that.

"Come on." Alexander said looking back at me a smile. I couldn't help but smile back. He took me to the edge of the roof. It looked out over the city. It was a nice view, but all I could think about was how it wasn't as nice as the view from Eric's spot on the roof he had taken me to.

"How often do you guys come up here, and do this?" I asked.

"We have this particular get together once a year here on this roof. We've all done it since our initiation, so everyone who made it through, and friends that we invite come. We've kind of made it a little tradition." He explained. I heard the heavy metal door to the roof creak open, and I instinctively turned to look.

A girl with bright red hair came walking out with Eric close behind her. She was holding his hand, and led him over to a large metal box that probably held some sort of electrical compotes for the building. It was tall, but she jumped up and sat on the edge then pulled Eric close his back to her front, and she wrapped her arms around him.

I felt that heat begin to bubble up inside of me, and the animal claw at the surface begging to be let lose. I had a very strong urge to punch her. I looked right at Eric waiting, I knew it wouldn't take him long before he spotted me. His eyes finally met mine, and he looked surprised to see me at first then as his eyes wondered to Alexander and his hand which still held mine his brows furrowed, and that angry look settled over him.

"Who is that with Eric?" I asked. Alexander looked over to them.

"That's Bonnie." He answered without elaboration.

"Are they together?" I asked. I wasn't sure I really kept the frustration out of my voice. Alexander gave me a look that said something like _are you jealous_?

"As far as I know they aren't, but she's been chasing him since initiation. That's probably why he's here. He's the one person that usually doesn't come." He explained.

"Why doesn't he come?" I questioned.

"Well the first time we came up here Eric and Four got into a fight. Eric won, but the next day they fought again in training, and Four beat Eric by making him concede in the fight. It was the only time he had ever given in, and ever since there has been a bit of a grudge between them." He answered.

That explained a lot. If Eric wasn't with that girl then why was he letting her hang all over him like that? It was probably irrational of me, but I could barely stand to look at them. I got the feeling Alexander sensed my anger and unease. He let go of my hand, and wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me close.

"Do you mind? I'm kind of cold, can you keep me warm?" He asked in a silky voice that almost made me forget about that girl and Eric…almost. I still couldn't help but grin at him, it was such a cheeky move. I leaned closer, and rested my head on his shoulder on the side that I could see Eric though. He looked furious, and pulled away from Bonnie. He walked over to where Four and a few others were standing, and took a bottle out of a chest. He opened it and took a long drink. Bonnie looked put out as she watched him, but that look didn't last long. She hopped down wearing a scowl.

"This wouldn't be a true tradition unless Four and Eric fight! Come on guys for old time's sake let's see you go at it again. I be this time Four will win, we all know it was fluke that he lost the first time!" Bonnie shouted. Eric had that look of pure wrath on his face, and Four was scowling. I hated that she did that to him. He had looked so happy and relaxed just a moment ago. I held my head up and pulled back from Alexander a little. He wore the same expression as Four.

"Come on I want a fight!" Bonne shouted again. I pulled completely away from Alexander, and walked closer to Bonnie.

"I'll fight. I'll fight you." I said. Everyone grew quite, and Four gave me a look that said _what do you think you're doing? _I ignored him. Bonnie looked surprised at what I said.

"No I want to see the boy's fight." She answered. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh I see, so I guess you're too much of a coward to fight me then? You said you wanted a fight. I'm offering you one, and now you're turning it down? Strange, I thought you're Dauntless." I antagonized. I could see her growing angrier. She would have to give in now.

"Okay fine you want to fight? I'll fight you then." She said. I immediately put up my hands. I was ready. She put up hers and we rounded each other for only a moment. I didn't plan on wasting time. I kicked her flat in the stomach making her stumble back. When she regained herself she looked beyond angry. I went at her with a full assault of punches. She was only able to block some of them, and stumbled back. I waited for her to regain her composure a bit. She charged me, but it was messy, and I grabbed her head and kneed her in the face. She came up with her hands flailing, and scratched me across the top of my left eye. She was crazy, I needed to just end it. I used what Eric had thought me earlier. I checked my stance and went in for the hard hit. I made contact with her face, and she spun a little before going down. She was out.

Before I could do anything Eric was on me. He grabbed my hand, and led me back toward the door. I looked back at Alexander, he looked disappointed. Eric stopped at the Elevator, and we waited for the door to open in silence. When it did he practically dragged me inside without a word. Once we were off he hastily led me down halls until I recognized where we were at. He was taking me back to his room. He stopped at his door to unlock it. He flicked on the light, and locked the door behind us. He took me over to the long counter that was directly across from his bed, and pulled out a stool for me. He ordered me to sit, and walked into the bathroom. When he came back he had a bandage, some alcohol, and a towel.

"It's fine. It's just a scratch." I said with irritation. He gave me that _look_. The one that clearly said don't question me. I stopped my protesting, and sat quietly. He doused the towel with alcohol, and carefully cleaned the scratch. It stung like crazy, but I didn't say a word. When he was done he put the bandage over it. He then rested his hands on my legs just above the knees, and looked right at me.

"Why did you do that?" He questioned in that deep but quiet voice. His expression was serious. It felt awkward to look right at him, but I made myself do it anyway.

"I didn't want you and Four to fight…and I _really_ didn't like her." I answered honestly. "Why did you bring me back here? You didn't want me at that party did you, not with Alexander." I questioned. His jaw flexed at the mention of Alexander's name.

"You could have gotten hurt, she used to be a decent fighter…apparently not anymore." He said that last part a little quieter. He was going to ignore some parts of my question like he usually did. "Don't ever do anything like that again. Do you understand?" He said. I nodded. I knew there was no use arguing about it.

"Why did you bring me here, and not the infirmary?" I asked.

"They'll take her to the infirmary, I didn't think that it would be a good idea for the both of you to be in the same room." He answered leaning back a little letting his hands slip away from my legs.

"Is that fight going to cause trouble for you?" I asked. At the time I had acted off of my emotions, all I could think about was how she had been all over him, and then wanting him to fight Four. All of it had made me feel crazy. I didn't stop to think about the repercussions of fighting her might bring up.

He brushed my hair over my shoulder, and rested his hand on my neck letting his thumb gently stroke my jaw. My spine tingled. I tried not to hold my breath.

"Don't worry about. I'll take care of it." He said before pulling his hand away.

"It's still kind of early…can we go hang out on the roof again?" I asked with a small smile. I wanted to break the tension of the conversation, and I didn't want to just go back to my dorm. His expression softened, and he took my hand.

"Come on." He said leading me back out the door, and to the roof. We took the same seats as the night before. I was glad to be back out here with him. When we were alone it was different, he was different. I liked him best like this.

"The view from here is better than the other roof." I said pulling the sleeves of my sweater over my hands with a little shiver before flashing him a playful smile.

"You're cold, let me go get my jacket." He said starting to get up. I stood up faster than him though, and stepped in front of him.

"No don't." I said kicking at his boots so that he would move them apart. He got the idea, and scooted back, and I sat down between his legs. He wrapped his arms around me, and rested his chin on my shoulder. When I asked to come out to the roof this is what I was looking for. The conversation we had on the fence had changed something between us. An unseen barrier had been broken, and when we were alone it was okay to just be close.

"You look nice in this sweater." He said quietly against my neck. I couldn't help but shiver again. "Are you still cold?" He asked. I smiled to myself. It wasn't the cold.

"No I'm warm, and thanks." I answered relaxing back into him again. "I'm sorry for fighting tonight, and causing trouble for you." I said quietly.

"It's fine…you looked good in that fight. You did everything right." He said softly.

"You taught me how to do it, I was just putting it to good use." I said with a little laugh.

"You nailed that last punch. You just have to use it in the ring now." He said quietly before pressing his lips to my shoulder. I felt my breath catch. He smiled against my skin. He lifted his chin back over my shoulder again. "Do me a favor and stay away from Alexander." He said softly. That seemed a little out of nowhere.

"Why do you want me to stay away from him?" I questioned. I wanted him to give me a reason.

"Would you like me hanging around Bonnie?" He questioned right back. I hated that he never gave me a straight answer when it came to this line of questions. I still got what he meant.

"He's Ryan's brother who is Lynn's boyfriend, and he Four's best friend. At some point I'll probably be around him again." I answered. I knew what he meant, but I wanted to push him a little further. I wanted him to not be so vague.

"You know what I mean. I don't want him touching you." He answered. He lifted his head, and gently rested his lips to my ear. "I don't want anyone touching you." He whispered. The feel of his breath warm against my skin made my stomach do a little flip, or maybe it was what he said.

"Okay…Are you going to let Bonnie hang all over you like that again?" I couldn't help but ask. I turned my head so that I could look at him. He was so close, our lips were so close. I could kiss him if I wanted to.

"No. I defiantly won't be hanging around Bonnie again." He answered quietly looking at my lips.

"Good." I said and turned away. I felt him slowly move to rest his chin on my shoulder again. We sat quietly for a long time watching the city from our perch. I could feel myself growing sleepy, and my head nodded for just a moment.

"You're tired let's go." I didn't want to get up, but I moved anyway. I walked back through the door to the hall, and Eric followed keeping his hand on my back. I started for the stairs, but he steered me toward his door. "You can stay with me again." He said.

"I don't want to keep taking your bed from you." I protested even though I wanted to stay. His bed was so much more comfortable…and it smelled like him.

"It's fine I told you I fall asleep in the chair all the time." He said opening his door and letting me in. I walked over to his bed.

"Do you have a shirt I can sleep in?" I asked. I didn't want to sleep in my sweater it would be too hot.

He walked over to a set of drawers, and pulled out a black t-shirt and gave it to me before walking back to it taking out a shirt for himself and some of the same soft looking pants he wore last night. He went into the bathroom, and I quickly changed. The shirt was big on me and really soft. I climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over me.

He was only gone a moment. When he came back he turned off the light, and settled down in his chair. I pulled the blanket up around my face, and before I knew it I was asleep.

Someone was shaking me, then I could feel them stroke my cheek.

"Ella. Ella. Wake up. You're having a nightmare. Ella." Eric said soft but firmly. I opened my eyes, I was crying. I sat up, and pulled him close. He held onto me for a moment while I composed myself. I leaned back, and took a deep breath to steady myself. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I'm sorry I woke you up." I said my voice still shaky.

"Does that happen often?" He asked stroking my arm.

"No. It's been a long time since I've had that dream, but it always comes up once in a while." I answered.

"…Who is Liam? You were screaming his name." He asked. I could feel a knot catch in my throat again. I could barely stand to hear that name.

"I can't. I can't talk about that." I said trying not to cry again.

"Okay." He said pulling be back close to him. He held me for a while until I had stopped shaking. I leaned back a little from him.

"I'm okay. You can go back to sleep." I said laying back down. He stroked my hair.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"I'm fine. I can go back to sleep now." I said trying to reassure him. He watched me for a few more moments before moving back to his chair. I laid there for a little while. I could feel him still watching me. I got up grabbing the blanket, and walked over to his chair. He moved over to one side, and I sat down next to him pulling the blanket over us. I slipped over onto my side, and wrapped an arm and leg around him. His arm slipped around me, and I nuzzled my face into his chest. He gently stroked my arm that rested over his waist. I could have been fine sleeping on my own in the bed, but I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to feel comfortable and safe.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"Don't be sorry, it's okay." He said, and I could feel myself drift off to sleep.

**A/N. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm not sure how much more I want to use Alexander in this story. He's and interesting fella, and could add some drama. Tell me what you think. When I make up knew characters I usually have someone I base them off of, and I was thinking of Johnathan Rhys Meyers for him. I'm very visual so I like to have someone to look at for my more prominent characters. It helps me describe them a lot better, and helps me visualize the whole character. I thought I would share that for those of you who like to put a face on things.**


	5. I Don't Think He's Right for You

**A/N. I'm glad the new formant is working. I think I like it a lot better too. I think I am going to go back, and do that for the other chapters. And who is this mysterious Liam? Muhahahaha You will all eventually find out. I debated on the love triangle a bit, I didn't want a very serious one. I just wanted a little drama in there. I personally like a good love triangle, but for this story I don't think I will go there, so rest assured the Eric/Ella ship is safe. I'm so glad you all are enjoying how I'm portraying Eric. Thank you all so much for your follows, favorites, and reviews. **

**I Don't Think He's Right for You**

I woke up to Eric softly stroking my arm. I lifted my head a little to look up at him. He had his eyes closed, but I knew he was awake. I was still curled all around him, I started to unwrap my leg from around his.

"You don't have to get up yet if you don't want to." He said in a quiet raspy deep voice. He sounded like he was still sleepy. I moved my leg back to where it was, and snuggled into him a little. He let out a soft Mmm sound that made my stomach do a little flip.

"Did you sleep at all? I didn't keep you up did it?" I asked feeling worried that he wasn't getting any sleep with me around.

"No I slept. It's visiting day, and we don't have to be up early." He said in that same tone. I had forgotten about visiting day. It didn't matter much to me, my parents definitely wouldn't be coming. I didn't mind that at all.

"Are you going to go see your parents?" He asked.

"No they won't be here." I answered. He didn't ask any more about it. We just sat for a bit taking our time to wake up.

I felt myself almost drift back off to sleep when someone knocked loudly on the door. It was so loud, and vigorous that it made me jump a little. I looked up at Eric, and he looked as annoyed as I felt. He carefully slipped away from me, and got up to answer the door. I could hear Four's voice ask if I was here. Crap.

"Ella." Eric called for me. I was tempted to just hide under the blanket, and pretend like I couldn't hear them. I got up and walked over to them. Eric had one hand still on the door, and the other against the wall. I came up behind him, and let myself stay partially hidden by his body. The shirt Eric gave me to sleep in kept me decent, but it somehow felt better to be partly covered by him. I couldn't quite see Eric's face, but from the tension he held in his body I could tell he was not happy about Four's visit. Four scowled at me through the door with his arms crossed over his chest. I scowled right back.

"I've been looking for you all morning. Lynn and Sean have been driving me crazy because they are worried about you, and your parents are waiting for you in the pit." He said in an irritated tone. It took a moment for me to register that he said my parents were waiting for me. I instantly felt suspicious of why they would be here. I knew there was no way they would come just to see me. "Come on let's go." He insisted.

"I'm not even dressed, and I don't need an escort. I'll be down there in a bit. Tell Lynn and Sean I'm fine." I said pushing the door closed on him. I leaned against the door, and looked at Eric. He looked mad. His body was tense, and his jaw flexed the way it always did when he was angry. "I should get dressed and go." I said walking toward the bed to get my pants. He silently followed me. I grabbed my pants and pulled them on, then my boots. "Can I bring this back to you later?" I asked tugging at the shirt he let me borrow.

"Yeah you can bring it back to me later." He said grabbing my shirt and bras from the small table that sat between the bed and chair. "Don't forget your other stuff this time." He said some of the tension melting away, and a small smirk threatening at the corners of his lips. I took them from him, and smiled sheepishly. I walked over to the door again.

"I thought you said your parents wouldn't be here?" He asked as he followed me. I turned to look at him, and sighed.

"I didn't think they would be, and if it wasn't for Four making a big deal out of it I probably wouldn't bother going down there. If they are here it isn't to see me, there is some ulterior motive for them being here." I answered. His brows furrowed. "I should get going." I said and he pulled the door open. I stepped closer to him, and put my arms around his neck hugging him. His arms wrapped around me hugging me back as he pressed his face into my shoulder. "Thanks for taking care of me last night." I said softly against his neck. He just made an Mmmm Hmmm sound, and I pulled away to leave. When I turned around Four was still was still standing outside of the door, and had just seen all of that. Eric looked beyond mad. I gave him a look that said I'm sorry, and quickly went out the door and shut it. I didn't want to take the chance of either of them saying anything. Eric seemed to be doing his best last time to keep quiet. I glared angrily at Four for a moment.

"Why are you waiting out here? I told you I needed to get dressed." I said not trying to conceal my frustration with him as I started walking back to the dorm.

"What are you doing staying at his place? Is this where you were the night before too? I noticed that you weren't in the dorm." He questioned me. I rolled my eyes. I really didn't feel like explaining myself to him, but I had a feeling he wasn't going to let the issue go.

"I stayed there because he offered, and I wanted to, and yes I stayed there the night before too. Lynn, Sean, and I had fight, and I didn't want to go back to the dorm. Not than any of this is really any of your business." I answered in a curt tone.

"What was with that hug at the door? You need to be careful…I don't think he's right for you." Four said looking at me with a concerned expression. I stopped and stared at him.

"Look I appreciate that you seemed to be concerned about me…kind of, but who's right for me or not really isn't up to you, and honestly you really don't know what you're talking about. I know you and Eric have some sort of grudge with each other, and I think it gives you a jaded perspective of him…That and I wonder if there is anyone you would think is right for me. You didn't like that Alexander was interested either, and he's your friend. I'm guessing that if your friends with him he can't be all that bad…Just leave my personal life to me okay?" I said trying to reason with him. I tried be sensitive about it. Even though it annoyed me I knew he was doing it out of concern.

"Alright I get it. I still think you need to be careful though, and you're right Alexander is a good guy, he just has a complicated love life, and I don't think you'd want to be part of it." He said his expression softening just a little.

"What do you mean Alexander's love life is complicated? What does that even mean?" I asked curiously. He shrugged just a little, he didn't want to tell me. I gave him a serious look. He rolled his eyes.

"He just has this on again off again sort of girlfriend. It's complicated, and you would be better off not getting involved with him." He explained. I shrugged. Alexander was…well he was definitely something, but I didn't think that there was ever going to be anything there anyway I just wanted to know what the deal with him was.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway…Do you promise not to come knocking angrily on Eric's door again?" I asked with my brows raised. He took a deep breath, and gave me a defeated look.

"Okay I won't do that again. We should get going your parents have been waiting for a while." He said starting to walk again. I walked with him.

"I'm not really in a hurry. If they are here, it's probably because they want something." I said passively. Four looked a little puzzled by that, but he didn't ask. He may have sensed that I was done be questioned. We made it back to the dorm, and he went on his way to the pit. I quickly showered and dressed, and was heading for the pit myself before long.

I walked into the pit, and spotted my parents right away. They stood near one of the entrances looking like they thought they were above their surroundings I shook my head a bit, and walked over to them.

"We've been waiting here for over an hour." My father said in his usual curt tone. I nodded indifferently. My mother just stood there silent with her always pursed lips.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" I asked not bothering with pleasantries.

"Well at least you still have some sense. We are here because of your decision to defect to this faction. My reputation had been brought into question because you decided to leave Erudite. We have a reporter waiting outside. We need you to give him an interview stating that you made a mistake, that you're truly Erudite, and would rather live factionless than live with your mistake. Then you can drop out here, so that it's believable. It won't completely fix things, but it will at least be some improvement on the situation. Come on the reporter is waiting outside." He explained as if it was the most casual thing to demand of me. Just give up my life is all. It was typical, and along the lines of what I had expected. I didn't get the chance to respond to them.

"Get out!" Both Eric and Four shouted at the same time. Eric was behind me, and Four was approaching from my side. Someone should have been recording it, it could be the only time ever that Eric and Four agreed on something. Both of them wore angry outraged looks. Eric stepped just beside me. "Get out of here now. I don't want to see either of you here ever again." Eric ordered. My father looked back at him arrogantly.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" My father question. Eric looked like he was going to tear him apart.

"Do you not realize who you're talking to?" Eric almost snarled taking a step closer to him. My father worked closely with the leaders of Erudite, but wasn't one of them, and never would be no matter how much he sucked up to them. Recognition came over him now. He realized that Eric was one of the Dauntless leaders. I forgot myself sometimes that he was. My father backed away, and grabbed my mother's arm as they hastily left. He apparently got the point. Four took my arm and turned me towards him. He studied me for a bit.

"You don't look upset." He said almost in a puzzled way. Eric stepped around to face me.

"I'm not really. I told you that whatever they were here for wasn't going to be because they wanted to see me or cared. It's just the way they are, it's the way they have always been." I answered simply. They both looked at me like I was lying, like they were just waiting for me to break down or something. I would have to explain more, a simple answer wasn't going to cut it I guess.

"He just asked you to be factionless so he wouldn't look so bad. He asked you to give up your life like it was nothing. How are you not upset?" Four asked apparently not being able to wrap his mind around it. Eric just stared still looking like he wanted to rip something pieces. His whole body still tense with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You both need to stop looking at me like that. I know it's hard for you to understand, but I'm really not upset, and yes I fully understand what he just asked me to do. It just doesn't matter to me anymore. They have always been like that as long as I can remember. For obvious reasons I didn't plan on staying, and my test results weren't for Erudite anyway. When choosing day came I chose Dauntless, and when I did I made the conscious choice to forgive them. They don't deserve it, but I do. I wanted to start completely fresh. I didn't want to come here holding onto something I didn't need to, it would only hold me back, and they aren't worth it. Forgiving them for everything freed me completely from them, so no I'm not upset. If anything I feel bad for them, there're miserable people. They could say or do whatever they want, it just doesn't matter to me anymore. As far as I'm concerned I'm not their daughter anymore. I belong to Dauntless now, and I'm happy here. I appreciate both of you being concerned, and I definitely didn't mind you throwing them out, but I'm fine." I said glancing between them now and again as I explained things.

"Okay." Four said simply. Some of the anger seemed to have melted away. He looked like he still didn't really completely understand it though. Eric just nodded, and unfolded his arms.

"I'm going to go get something to eat, I'm starving." I said turning on my heel. I didn't feel like carrying on this conversation anymore. It was little intense, and they both just got a peak into parts of my life that I really did just want to let stay in the past.

I walked to the cafeteria. It was fairly sparse, almost everyone was in the pit visiting. I sat down and started eating. I was nearly finished when Alexander sat down next to me. I took the last bite of my food, and looked at him. He gave me that cheeky grin he wore so well.

"You ran out on me last night. I was hoping we'd get to spend some more time together than that." He said in a sort of playful way. I smiled back at him. It was hard not to smile at him, he just had something about him that made you want to smile.

"Yeah sorry about that, but it was probably best that I left considering everything." I answered.

"Well you could spend the rest of your day with me now to make up for it." He said talking my hand, and tracing circles with his thumb on the top of it.

"I don't think that is such a good idea…I don't think want to get involved with someone who still has something going on with someone else." I answered giving him a small smile.

"I take if you've been talking with Four about me. I'm not involved with anyone right now, if I was I wouldn't be talking to you." He protested playfully.

"Still I just think maybe we should only be friends, and spending the day alone together probably isn't a good idea right now. I need to be focused on getting through initiation. Do you think you would be okay with that? Just being friends I mean." I said getting up from my seat. He got up too, and stood a little too close.

"Okay we can be just friends…for now." He said adding that last bit with a mischievous smirk. I couldn't help but grin and blush a little. Maybe Four was right he was trouble. "Can I at least have a hug?" He asked. I gave him a look that said you're too much, but still nodded my head yes. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and I put mine around his neck. He pulled me closer, and held on for a long moment. He leaned back just a little. "Alright, come find me if you if change your mind." He said giving me a wink. I bit my lower lip trying not to smirk at him. Over his shoulder I could see Eric walk in. He stopped when he saw us. A look of utter rage washed over his face. I thought that he had looked mad earlier during the incident with my parents, but it was nothing compared to how he looked right now. His expression was pure wrath. I felt a pang of guilt hit me. I knew what it probably looked like to him, even though that's not what was going on. I let my arms slip from Alexander's neck, and he let his arms fall away from me. Eric turned and walked back out. I wanted to go after him, but considering how mad he looked I thought it wasn't the best idea.

"I should go. I'll see you around." I said and started making my way to the dorm. When I got there I flopped onto my bed. Eric's shirt was on my pillow, and I snuggled my face into it. It still smelled like him. I wanted to scream. I wondered how things were going to play out. The last time he was this mad I ended up having to fight Conner.

I laid in bed for a while just thinking everything over. Lynn and Sean joined me later, and we chatted about what had happened the night before. They were both a little mad at me for not coming back to the dorm last night, and making them worry. I explained that I was just tired, and didn't think about them getting upset about it. They both questioned me about staying at Eric's, and wanted to know if that's where I really was the night before last too. I kept my response vague, and they seemed to get the hint that I didn't want to talk about it. We all went down to dinner together, and when we were done we went to bed early. We all needed a good night's sleep for our last fight. Eric wasn't in the cafeteria when we had eaten, and I had the feeling it was because of what had happened. I fell asleep snuggling his shirt wondering how mad he was at me.

I woke to the familiar sound of Four banging his metal pipe. I wasted no time getting up, and going straight for the shower. I went through my routine, and Sean, Lynn, and I headed down for breakfast. We all went for our spot. Eric still wasn't there, I wondered if he would even be in the training room today. I picked at my food, I wasn't feeling very hungry. When Sean and Lynn were finished we walked together to the training room.

When we got there Four and Eric were putting names on the board. A moment later they stepped away, and we could see who we were fighting. I was first on the list, and I was fighting Conner. I wasn't surprised. This was going to be a hard fight. Conner had improved since our first fight. He wasn't nearly as sloppy, and he wasn't as predictable with his shots. I glared at Eric, and he just looked back at me with a cold disconnected expression. Sean was fighting Derick, and Lynn was fighting James. At least they had fair matches. Lynn had improved a lot since her Fight with Abby.

I wasted no time, and went straight to the ring. I looked at Four, and he gave me an encouraging nod. He didn't look worried, and that gave me confidence. Once everyone was there Conner joined me in the ring. He still wouldn't look me in the eye, and this time he made no rude comments. I readied myself, and carefully rounded him. He did the same looking at me for the first time. He came at me quick, and caught me in the face hard. I stumbled back, but quickly composed myself. In a strange way the hit sort of woke me up, I needed to focus on what I was doing. I rounded him, and sent a kick to his abdomen. He stumbled, and I took the opportunity to go for his face. I pounded away with several punches to the head. He blocked a few, but I landed most of them. It disoriented him enough for me to grab his neck and bend him over so that I could knee him in the face. He pulled free from me, and swung sloppily. He was dazed. I readied myself, and took a hard shot at him. I landed it, and he went down. I won. I walked out of the ring, and stood next to Sean as Lynn walked into the ring.

Eric still wore the same cold expression. I shook my head a little. The rest of the fights seemed to drag by. Both Lynn and Sean won their fights too. When everyone was done fighting, Eric immediately walked out of the training room without saying a word.

Lynn and Sean wanted to celebrate all of us winning our fights. I wasn't really in the mood, but figured I shouldn't ruin their good moods. They both wanted to get another tattoo, and tried their best to get to get one too. I refused I wasn't going to get one until we passed the first stage. They each got a matching tattoo of three swirling and intertwining lines on their upper arms. After the tattoos I talked them into just hanging out in the dorm. We spent the night chatting, and after a while I actually started feeling a little better. When we finally went to bed I pulled his shirt out from under my pillow, and snuggled it again. I fell asleep thinking about being on the roof.

Four didn't come banging his metal pipe in the morning. We were done with training, and were supposed to have a day off. I actually kind of wished we would be training. I didn't want a whole day with nothing to do. I got up and took a shower, and got dressed. I waited for Sean and Lynn today before going down for breakfast. I just poked at my food again, I still wasn't feeling very hungry. I think both Lynn and Sean were picking up on my mood. Lynn seemed determined to turn it around. After breakfast she dragged to different shops, and forced me to buy new clothes. I had to admit it was actually kind of fun to spend time with her like that. We tried on almost everything in the store, and I ended up spending almost all of my points. I got some new pants, a dress, and a few new tops. Most of what I actually picked out was fairly basic, but I figured if it was too fancy I wouldn't end up wearing it much. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, and after dinner the three of us were content to hang out in the dorm and just chat. It was starting to get late, and we all seemed to be thinking about heading to bed when Four came storming into the dorm.

"Okay I want everyone down in the courtyard ready to catch the train in fifteen minutes." He announced throwing a pile of vests on the floor.

"What are we doing?" Sean asked walking over and picking up three vests.

"War games. It's a Dauntless tradition." Four said walking out of the dorm. Sean handed Lynn and I each a vest, and we headed out towards the courtyard. We all seemed to be excited about what we would be doing in a war game. It didn't take us long to get down there, and we all stood together waiting for the train. Eric was there with Four waiting too. He didn't seem to notice me, or maybe he was ignoring me. The train came whirling down the tracks. Everyone started jumping on.

We were all in the same car, and Four tossed a pile of guns on the floor. They looked different than the guns we used in training, they were smaller, and had bright tips. Eric walked over and picked up a gun.

"Okay we will be splitting up into two teams. The goal of the game is to capture the other team's flag, and defend your own. Each team will drop in a different area, and you will have a short time to secure your flag." Eric explained.

"That looks like a toy gun." Abby sneered rolling her eyes. Eric shot her in the leg, and she doubled over in pain.

"They're neurostem darts. They stimulate a real gun shot, the effects last for a few minutes. "Okay Four you can pick first." Eric said looking at him smugly. Four just gave him a hard look, and scanned all of us. He lingered on me, and I gave him a look that said _don't you dare pick me_.

"Lynn." He said after a moment. Eric looked around at everyone. He stopped at me, I looked right back at him. His eyes weren't as cold as they were during my last fight, but they still seemed distant. I held my breath.

"Ella." He said, and I took a breath again. Maybe he wasn't so mad anymore. Four picked James next, and Eric took Sean. They went back and forth until everyone was picked between transfers, and Dauntless born. We all took a gun, and waited until it was time to jump off at our drop. Four's team went first, and our team waited about ten minutes before we jumped. We were near the dock, and all of us followed Eric.

"Okay, all of you decide on a plan." He announced casually leaning back against a wall. Everyone started arguing about what we should do. Some of them wanted to hide our flag, and all go looking for the other teams. Others wanted to all stay, and protect ours, and a few others wanted to spit up. I just stayed back out of the conversation, I wasn't really concerned with what we did. I had my mind on something else…or someone else.

"Sometime today initiates. The other team will be making their move." Eric drawled pushing back off of the wall.

"Let's put it to a vote." A tall Dauntless boy named Chris said. Everyone agreed, it was probably the only way we would make a decision. After our vote it was decided that we would all stay and defend our flag. Eric then started directing people to different stations explaining how they were to defend their position. I stood there waiting for him to give me direction, I was the last person he talked to. He still had the flag in his hand. He stood there looking at me for a moment. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He stepped closer to me, and took my hand. My stomach did a flip, and I tried not to hold my breath.

"Come on we're going to hide the flag." He said pulling me towards a building with a tower that overlooked the dock. I followed silently as he led us into the building, and up the stairs. It was dark, and we only had the faint luminescence of the flag. When we reached the top he hung the flag on a line that was strung from the ceiling. We stood in a small open walled room at the top of the tower. He walked out to a small balcony that wrapped around the whole top of the room. I followed him. I looked out and in the far distance you could see a faint glow. It was the other team's flag. Too bad everyone decided that we were all staying.

"Look, out there. Can you see them?" He asked pointing to a building not far from us. There was one working light attached to the side of it, and you could just make out the shapes of people making their way along the wall.

"Did you make me fight Conner again because you were mad at me?" I asked not bothering to answer his question. He turned to look at me. His expression seemed blank.

"No. I had you fight Conner because if you won it would push your rank up." He answered simply.

"So it wasn't because you were mad? You are mad though, you haven't spoken to me, or barely even looked at me since you saw me with Alexander." I questioned trying to keep my voice steady, I was starting to feel upset. Something softened just slightly in his eyes.

"If you want to be with Alexander then that's your choice, but I don't want to see or hear about it." He answered his jaw flexing in that way it did when he was angry.

"I'm not with Alexander. I know you saw me hug him, but it was just a hug…it was sort of a goodbye hug. I had just told him that I wasn't interested in him, and the only thing we could be was friends." I explained. I watched the tension slip from his jaw and body as his eyes wandered over me. He seemed to relax a little. He glanced back out at the figures making their way closer to us.

"We need to get back down there, and get into position." He said taking my hand again, and leading me back down the stairs. Once we were out of the building he stationed me behind a large crate, and took a positon behind another crate just in front of me. We sat crouched and waiting for the other team to engage us. I perked up when I heard footsteps. Eric called out for a few of our teammates to light up flares.

Suddenly it was a mass of confusing gun fire. I managed to pick off a few of their members as they tried to close in toward the tower, but Four was in a position behind a crate up and across from where Eric and I were. He held us at bay, and it was hard to get a shot off. On our left side our defenses were down, and I saw Lynn streak past heading right for the tower. I couldn't go after her without getting hit by Four, he was closing in. He seemed intent on taking Eric out. If he got any closer he would have him. I could get Four, but he would likely get me back in the process.

Lynn was going to get our flag, so I figured I should just go for it. Four was making his move stepping away from his crate. I dove out from mine and shot. I landed three in his chest sending him to the ground, but not before he got a shot off, he clipped me in my side. I hit the ground hard as pain ripped through my side. I could barely think it hurt so badly. I heard Eric call out my name as I looked up at the tower to see Lynn at the top waving our flag.

Eric hovered over me, and I felt him pull the dart from my side. He pulled me up, and tried to help me stand. I couldn't, it still hurt. He propped me up against the crate I had been hiding behind, and held onto me till the pain started to fade away. I let myself lean into him. It felt good to be close to him again.

"The dart should be worn off by now." He said. I looked up at him, and he brushed my hair away from my face. I smiled sheepishly at him. The pain was gone, but I didn't want him to let me go yet.

"Yeah it's better now." I said steadying myself.

"Come on we need to catch the train back." He said resting his hand on my back as we walked to meet everyone waiting for the train. The other team was cheering and celebrating about their win. Our team looked a little put out. Sean was with Lynn though, and she seemed ecstatic about having gotten the flag. I felt happy for her even though we had lost. Four walked toward Eric and I. He extended his hand for Eric to shake, and Eric took it. Other than when they threw my parents out of the pit it was the only time I had seen them look so cordial with each other. Four then looked at me.

"Did you really have to hit me three times? One would have been plenty." He said with a smile, and rubbed his chest where I had shot him. I shrugged.

"You were trying to take out my captain, I had to do something." I said smiling back. He shook his head in a playful way before walking back to join his team. I could see the train heading towards us we all got ready to jump on. It was a whirl of people jumping on the train. Eric go on first, and then pulled me in. I leaned against the wall of the car, and Eric stood facing me holding onto a metal bar that ran across the top of the car. We just stood there in silence for most of the ride back.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly looking up at him. He had to know what I meant. His eyes didn't hold that hard edge anymore, and he didn't look tense. He swept a strand of hair from the side of my face, and tucked it behind my ear.

"I know." He said softly. I wanted to hug him, but I resisted. It might be really awkward to do that with everyone around us right now. "When we get back we are going to announce your final rankings for the first stage. Afterwards I want you to meet me in the pit near the entrance from the hall near your dorm." He said smiling just slightly. I was excited to know what the rankings would be, and very curious about why he wanted to meet me him in the pit. I was going to question him when people started jumping off. We both followed and jumped too.

"Okay everyone follow me." Four announced once everyone was off of the train. I looked at Eric, and he nodded to follow Four. He led us down a hall, and into a large room. All of the Dauntless leaders were waiting for us. Eric walked over to join them. Max gave a short speech about what it meant to be Dauntless before revealing the board. I looked up at it, and I was in first place. A Dauntless born girl named Shay was in second. Ryan was third. Sean was fourth. Lynn was fifth. The Dauntless born made up the rest of the top ten, and Hazel, Sophie, and two Dauntless were below the line. I didn't dare look around, I couldn't bear to think about where they would end up. I focused instead on how well Sean and Lynn had done. I was really happy with my ranking, but I was even happier for them. We all hugged each other while Max congratulated everyone before dismissing us.

Sean and Lynn were in celebration mode. A Dauntless born announced that there was going to be a party in the pit, and everyone began heading there. When we got there it was already a sea of activity, a lot like the first party we attended. I looked around for Eric, and he was standing where he said he would be. I told Sean and Lynn that I would meet up with them later, and that I had to take care of something. Luckily they were in such good moods, and distracted by all of the activity that they didn't protest me leaving.

I made my way over to Eric, and when I reached him he took my hand. He led me up a set of stairs, and we climbed till we reach the tattoo shop. He walked in pulling me along with him.

"I don't have enough points left to get a tattoo." I said feeling a little dumb for not having thought about it earlier when Lynn and I went shopping. I had planned on getting one after we passed the first stage, but completely forgot about it when I got all those clothes.

"It doesn't matter I'm getting it for you anyway. Pick out whatever you want." He said stroking the top of my hand with his thumb. That little touch sent a tingle through me. I smiled at him, and walked over to take a look at the different designs. One caught my eye right away. It was of segmented parallel lines much like the ones on Eric's neck, but they were longer and closer together narrowing just a little at the bottom with a Dauntless symbol resting between them at the very top. It was definitely what I wanted. A lady with long dark hair approached us, and waited patiently as I looked at the image.

"I want this one." I said looking at her. She smiled.

"Good choice. I'm Tara by the way." She said picking it up, and motioning for me to follow her. She stopped at a chair, and had me sit. Eric followed us.

"Where do you want it?" She asked readying some tools.

"I want it centered down my back, starting from the bottom of my neck all the way down." I explained. She smiled again. She grabbed a small towel and handed it to me.

"Okay take off your shirt." She said. Eric turned away. I pulled my shirt off, took off my bra, and used the towel to cover myself. She instructed me to straddle the chair, and lean forward into it. I did as she told me, and she began prepping my skin. Eric came closer and kneeled down to my side, so that I could see him.

"I've got to go get something. I'll be back before you're done." He said. I nodded at him before he stood up and walked away. I wondered what he had to get. I closed my eyes, and sat there concentrating on my breathing as the pad she applied to my skin worked at creating my tattoo. It felt like I was sitting there for a long time.

"Okay it's finished. I'm going to take off the pad and clean it up. You'll need to keep it clean, and get someone to put lotion on it for at least a few days while it heals." She explained.

"Alright." I answered getting up from the chair carefully keeping the towel wrapped around me. Tara walked away to help someone. I grabbed my shirt, and was about to put it on when I heard someone step up close behind me.

"Don't put that on yet." Eric said. I snapped back around to look at him with a puzzled look. He laughed a little, and pushed a small bag towards me. I took it from him, and looked inside. I was a shirt. I pulled it out.

"Put it on." He said expectantly before turning around. I turned away again, and pulled it over my head. It was black with three quarter length sleeves, and the back of it only consisted of a few thin straps carefully crisscrossed to keep it in place. The front of it was ruched, and very fitted which was nice because wearing a bra wasn't going to happen, but between the ruched gathering and how fitted it was it would give me a little support and coverage. I could feel him turn around, and gently touch my back. He traced a line alongside my new tattoo, and I felt my knees start to go. His arms were around me before they went out. He laughed softly in my ear.

"Are you ever going to get over that?" He questioned playfully. I turned around in his arms to face him. He smiled softly as he looked down at me.

"Doesn't seem like it." I answered feeling my cheeks grow a little warm.

"The shirt looks good on you, and so does your tattoo. Do you like them?" He asked. I smiled up at him, letting my hands slip up around his neck as I stood up on my tippy toes. I leaned in and kissed his cheek letting my lips linger for a moment before pulling back away.

"Yeah I like them both…thank you." I answered. He pulled me just a little closer and let his forehead rest against mine.

"You're welcome." He said quietly. I liked him best like this, when he was tender, and close. There were no expectations, we were just us near each other. It always made me feel calm, and safe. Over the past few days I had missed it.

"Ella! Ella! Hey there you are!" I heard Lynn shout. Eric pulled back and let his hands slip away from me. I did the same. I didn't want to, but it seemed to be an unspoken rule that being close to each other wasn't something we did in full public, or specifically around people we knew.

"You should go be with your friends." He said. I nodded, and stuffed my other shirt and bra into the bag, and walked over to Lynn. Eric walked out past me, and I watched him till he was out of sight. Lynn gave me a hard look.

"What?" I asked pretending not know why she was looking at me like that.

"Were you and Eric just…?" She started to ask.

"No." I said too quickly cutting her off. She smirked at me.

"Okay whatever you say. Hey! Did you get a tattoo?" She asked turning me around to look at my back. "Where did you get this shirt? I don't remember you getting this earlier, and how did you pay for the tattoo? You pretty much used up all of your points." Lynn asked excitedly. I turned back around to face her.

"Umm Eric got them for me." I said not looking her in the eye.

"Oh I see. Did he pick out the tattoo?" She asked. I gave her an odd look.

"No I picked it out. Why?" I questioned. She shrugged.

"It just looks a lot like the ones Eric has on his neck. I thought maybe he picked it out for you." She said.

"Well I picked it out, and I like it." I said with a tone that conveyed I was done talking about it.

"Okay. Come on lets go down to the pit, everyone else is down there." She said taking my hand, and dragging me away. We joined Sean, Ryan, and most of the Dauntless born initiates. Everyone was talking, and laughing with each other. Sean was talking with a Dauntless born girl with long black hair, and they seemed to be hitting it off. I smiled a little. Lynn immediately went straight over to Ryan, and he wrapped his arms around her. They looked cute together, but it made me feel kind of lonely all of the sudden.

"Nice tattoo." Four said as he walked up, and stood beside me. "Congratulation on making first." He added clamping a hand on my shoulder briefly.

"Thanks." I said smiling at him. I could see Eric off a ways sitting on one of the lower ledges against the wall. Four noticed me looking at him. He smirked, and shook his head a little. Alexander came up behind Ryan, and put his arm around his neck playfully putting him in a lose headlock. Ryan pulled his arm off of him, and Alexander stepped around making his way over to me. I glanced over to Eric, he was close enough for me to see his jaw flex. I took a deep breath.

Alexander stopped close to me…way too close, he always seemed to do that. He leaned in close. "You look really nice in that shirt." He whispered in my ear. I stepped back, and gave him a curt smile.

"Yeah…It's new." I said feeling a little frustrated. I thought that I had made it clear that he and I could only be friends. He gave me that cheeky smirk. "I'm…thirsty, I think I'm going to go get some water." I said making an excuse to leave. It was lame, but I kind of just wanted to get out of there.

I turned and walked off in a random direction, I didn't have a plan on where I was going. I felt someone trail a finger down my back. It almost made me jump. I turned to see who it was. I rolled my eyes.

"Alexander don't do that." I said irritated.

"Did you just get that?" He asked still smiling playfully at me.

"Yeah tonight after we got back, and found out our rankings." I answered. He stepped closer again taking my hand.

"I know you said you just wanted to be friends, but I really think that you should reconsider." He said leaning in close like he might kiss me. I put my hand up on his chest to stop him shaking my head. The next moment Eric was next to us, and he punched Alexander in the face sending to the ground. He grabbed his jaw, and looked surprised by what had just happened. I looked at Eric, and he looked furious. I got the feeling he wanted to hit him again.

"Don't ever touch her again, or they'll be pulling you out of the chasm." He said in a low deep angry voice. He had a strained calm to his tone. I stood there a little shocked looking back and forth between them. I stepped in front of Eric looking up at him, and placed a hand on his neck gently trying to take his attention away from Alexander who was still on the ground.

"Come on lets go…come on." I had to repeat myself to get his attention. I took his hand and led him out of the pit. I walked down a random hall not sure where I was headed, I just wanted to get him away from there.

"Do you know where you're going?" Eric asked after we had been walking for a while. I stopped, and turned to look at him.

"I have no idea where I'm at." I said with a little laugh. He shook his head, and put his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him. "Why did you do that? I could have handled him." I asked letting my arms slip around his neck.

"I told you before, I don't want him touching you, and I know you could handle it, but I handled it for you." He said with a little smirk.

"So where are we at?" I asked.

"It's just a service tunnel." He answered. I yawned a little. It was so late, and I was tired. He pulled away, and took my hand walking back the way we came for a while until we came to another tunnel. We took a few more turns here and there before we ended up at my dorm room. I was slightly disappointed, but then he walked in. I followed him.

"Get your stuff." He said simply.

"My stuff?" I asked.

"A change of clothes, shower stuff." He said looking impatient.

"Okay." I answered as I went over to my bed and grabbed some clothes, and my shower bag. I tried to be discrete, and pulled his shirt from under my pillow before walking back over to him. He placed his hand on my back, and we walked back out heading towards his room.

"So…uh you sleep with my shirt under your pillow?" He asked teasing me. I blushed. I had hoped he didn't notice that.

"It…umm it smells like you, and it kind of makes me feel…safe." I said quietly admitting something privet. We were at his door, and we both stopped in front of it.

"So you're saying I smell good?" He asked with a soft laugh still teasing me before he opened his door letting me go in first. I walked over to his bed and tossed my stuff except for his shirt on to it, and turned to look at him. He stepped close to me.

"You know you do, now turn around so I can change." I answered, but he took his shirt from me and walked away. "Hey I was going to wear that." I protested. He stopped at the set of drawers he kept his clothes in, and pulled out a clean shirt. He tossed it to me.

"I thought you might like a clean one." He said taking out another shirt, and a pair of the soft lose pants that he sleeps in before walking into his bathroom. I changed quickly, and crawled into bed. I was really tired, and I was really glad I was sleeping here. His bed was so comfortable, and I liked that he was nearby. He came back into the room, and flicked off the light. He came over to me, and leaned down. He gently touched my hair. "Thanks for taking a bullet for me tonight." He said playfully. I laughed a little.

"It wasn't it a bullet, it was a neurostem dart." I said with a little giggle.

"I know, but it was still brave." He said walking over to his chair, and settling in.

"You're welcome." I said with a little yawn, and fell asleep.


	6. Don't Put Me On The Backburner

**A/N. Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites, and follows. I really like hearing your feedback on how the story is going. I went back and did some editing on all of the chapters to clean them up a bit. I hope they are better now. I will probably always miss something though. It took me a while to get this chapter up. I was on vacation, and had to get all of my homework done early. I also had a bit of writers block. I wasn't really sure how I wanted this chapter to go, and what to do with it. I hope you all enjoy it. **

**Don't You Put Me On The Back Burner**

"Ella…Ella…come on it's time to wake up." Eric said quietly. I felt him gently run his fingers through my hair. I was awake, but I didn't want him to stop. I was laying on my side snuggling all of the blankets. He leaned in close to my ear. "Ella I know you're awake." He said, his voice was low and deep, but soft. I smiled, and if I was standing the sound of his voice would have made my knees go out. I looked up at him. He was already showered and dressed.

"I let you sleep in, but it's getting late." He said playing with a strand of my hair.

"Do you have plans for anything to do today?" I asked rolling over onto my back, and sitting up a little. He let go of the piece of hair he was playing with.

"I went down and got something for breakfast. If you get up take a shower, and get dressed we can eat on the roof. Other than that I have no plans…do you?" He said looking at me with those pretty blue eyes. I let myself just watch him for a moment.

"No I don't have any plans. Breakfast on the roof sounds good, and so does a shower." I answered. He stood up, and walked over to sit at one of the bar stools.

"Well then get up. I put a fresh towel in the bathroom for you." He said in that impatient tone of his. When I had first met him I found it very intimidating, but now it sort of just made me want to smile. He gave me an expectant look. I smirked at him. I got up out of bed grabbed my clothes, and shower bag before heading to the bathroom.

I closed the door behind me, and turned the shower on. I undressed, and quickly got in. It was so nice to take a shower in privet. I went through my routine, and when I was done I noticed a few bottles on a small shelf in his shower. I opened one, and smelled it. It smelled so good, it smelled like him. I wanted to douse myself in it, but I resisted, and put it back before turning off the shower. I dried myself quickly, and got dressed. I decided to wear the shirt Eric gave me again. My tattoo was still fresh, and I didn't really want anything rubbing against it. I came out of the bathroom, and walked towards him. He was still sitting at the bar reading a book. I came up, and stood next to him leaning on the counter a little.

"Did you put lotion on your tattoo?" He asked not looking up from what he was reading.

"No. I forgot about that." I answered.

"There is a bottle on the counter in the bathroom go get it." He ordered. I sighed, but went and got the bottle, and brought it back to him.

"Turn around." He said looking up, and turning to face me. I did as he asked. He brushed my hair over my shoulder out of the way. He very gently applied some of the lotion to my back over my tattoo. The feeling was very comforting, and if I was laying down it could have put me to sleep it was so relaxing.

"Okay you're good. Let's go." He said grabbing a bag from the counter as he got up, and headed for the door. I followed him. We made our way out to the roof, and sat in our spot. He pulled out two containers, and forks. He handed one to me. I opened it. It was chocolate cake. I turned and smiled at him.

"We're having chocolate cake for breakfast?" I asked giving him a silly grin.

"Well you ranked first." He said with just a hint of a smirk. I took a bite. It was so yummy, I loved cake, and having it for breakfast was awesome. We both ate quietly enjoying the view. When we were done we laid back against the slanting roof.

I laid there with my eyes closed relaxing enjoying the feeling of the sun on my skin when I heard the door to the roof open and close. I opened my eyes, and sat up. A tall broad man a little bigger than Eric was standing in front of us. He wore a mischievous smile across his full lips. His brown eyes had a warm softness to them though. He ran a hand over his short brown hair. It was cut in the same style as Eric's except he let it lay messily flat, his bangs half swept off to the side. He was very handsome, and I was very curious to know who he was.

"I thought I'd find you up here, but I have to say I'm a little surprised you're bringing initiates to this place." The handsome stranger said. Eric was sitting up now too, and looking at him with a smile. Eric glanced at me.

"This is Tommy, he's an old friend. Tommy this is Ella she just ranked first in stage one." Eric said introducing us to each other. I thought it wasn't really necessary for him to mention that I ranked first, but I didn't say anything. I smiled at Tommy, and he smiled back.

"Well congratulations on ranking first kiddo. I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that you are probably being considered for leadership?" He said. I wasn't sure how I felt about being called kiddo, but I just nodded in response.

"I didn't know you would be back today." Eric said looking at Tommy.

"I got done a few days early." I looked back and forth between the two of them, not really sure of what they were talking about. I think Tommy sensed my confusion. "I was working with the guards on the fence doing some training, and since I have the day off I thought I'd come find Eric to see if he wanted to up to the Hancock building. You're welcome to come too Ella." He explained. I nodded in understanding. Eric stood up, and took my hand pulling me up.

"Come on. You'll like this." He said as he led me to the door with Tommy following us.

"What's at the Hancock building?" I asked as he tugged me along. Tommy laughed a little, and I suddenly wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. Eric glanced at me as we walked with a playful grin.

"Well you'll find out when we get there." He answered. I had a feeling he would say something like that. He never gave me a straight answer when it came to this sort of thing. We finally came out to the courtyard just in time for a train. Tommy and Eric jumped right on, and Eric held out his hand for me. We both knew that I could get on without help, but I liked that he always helped me get on. I took his hand, and he pulled me in. I leaned against the wall of the car. Eric and Tommy chatted about how his training went on the fence as we rode the train. I felt content to just listen to them. Eric seemed so relaxed around Tommy, it made me smile…the only time I see him like that is when he's around me. At least when we're alone.

They both moved to jump off the train, and I did the same. Once we were off we made our way to the Hancock building. They went straight for an elevator. We all waited for the doors, and went in when they opened. I didn't have to ask I figured we were headed to the top floor. The doors opened again, and we all got out. There was a large hole in the side of the building. Tommy and Eric walked over to it. Tommy pulled a bag out that was tucked away against part of the wall that was still standing. He pulled what looked like harness out.

"I'll go first, she can go next, and you can go last Eric." Tommy said strapping himself into the harness. I then noticed a very thick cable running from the building off down across the city. Tommy secured a large pulley that hung from the cable to his harness. This was going to be way more intense than jumping off the roof my first day at Dauntless. Eric smiled at me, and took my hand leading me closer to the edge where Tommy was about ready to hurl himself off. Eric double checked his harness, and the pulley. Tommy then pushed off from the side of the building, and sped out of sight quicker than I could have imagined.

"Okay it's your turn." Eric said helping me into my harness. Maybe I should have been more nervous, but what I really felt was excitement. He hooked me up to another pulley, and double checked everything like he had with Tommy. When he was done he looked at me for a long moment, and gently placed his hand on my neck. "Are you okay with this?" He asked.

"Yeah I want to go." I said. I'm sure he could see the excitement in my expression because he just shook his head a little and smiled.

"Tommy will wait for you at the bottom, and help you get out of the harness. I'll be down a few minutes after you okay?" He explained. I nodded. He checked my pulley again, he seemed to be concerned about me going down the zip line. I pulled him close to me in a tight hug. He pressed his face into the crease of my neck and shoulder, and we stayed like that for a moment.

"I'll be fine." I said quietly before pulling back. He gave me a smirk, and turned me to face the city. I pushed off, and let out a wild scream that quickly turned into a laugh. The wind whipped around my whole body, and it felt as though I was flying. It was amazing how free it felt. If I could I would stay flying along the cable all day. I closed my eyes, and enjoyed the feeling of the wind, and the smell of the fresh air. Almost too soon I began to slow down, and I could see Tommy off in the distance on a platform waiting for me.

I rolled to a stop near the platform, and Tommy pulled me just the little bit further I needed to go to rest my feet safely on the platform. He unhooked me from the pulley, and helped me get out of the harness.

"So you like it?" He asked with a huge grin. I laughed a little.

"When can we go again?" I said. He laughed harder shaking his head.

"You're definitely Dauntless. I'm starting to see why you're ranked first." He said patting me a little roughly on the back. I gave him a humble smile.

"How long have you been friends with Eric?" I asked leaning lightly against the railing of the platform. Tommy leaned back too looking at me.

"I've known Eric since he was an initiate, I was one of the trainers while he went through initiation." He answered. He stared at me for a moment with a questioning gaze. "So you gonna break his heart?" He asked in a matter of fact tone. I was a little caught off guard by what he just said. Our conversation had been so light, and now he was asking something very deep. It was out of nowhere, and I wasn't even sure how to answer that.

"No. Why would you ask something like that? I'm not…we haven't talked about…" I stumbled over my words. I didn't know how to answer that question, and it made me suddenly feel very insecure.

"Relax kiddo I didn't mean to upset you. I just want to make sure he's not getting himself into any trouble. I heard about what happened last night with Alexander…and you kinda look like a bit of a heartbreaker." He said with a playful smile, and shoved my shoulder gently. I took a deep breath, and tried to relax a little.

"You heard about what happened with Alexander already? I guess I can see how you might be concerned about him, but I'm definitely not a heartbreaker. Am I going to get him in trouble because we spend time together?" I said still feeling a little self-conscious about the conversation. He stared at me for a bit.

"Yeah maybe not…word travels fast in Dauntless, especially when it's about a leader knocking out someone to defend a pretty young initiate, and I wasn't exactly talking about that kind of trouble. Look don't worry about it kiddo I think I was mistaken." He said with a soft smile. I gave him a small smile before looking out across the cable. Eric was speeding towards us, and only a moment later he landed on the platform. He unhooked himself from the pulley, and began taking off his harness. He looked so much lighter. There was no tension in him, and he was smiling. I couldn't help but grin to myself seeing him like that. He looked at me with that genuinely light smile dancing across his lips before stepping closer, and slipping his arms around my waist. He didn't seem to mind that Tommy was with us.

"Did you like it?" He asked his voice seemed to hold that same tone as his smile. I let my hands rest on his chest, and looked up at him. His eyes seemed even brighter. Those deep blue pools made me just want to slip into them and get lost.

"Yeah I liked it. It was amazing, not nearly long enough though." I answered mocking his lighthearted smile.

"Good." He said kissing my forehead before pulling away. He took my hand, and laced his fingers with mine as we all headed down a set of stairs that led off the platform. Eric and Tommy chatted about the zip line as we walked back to catch a train. We didn't wait long for one back. We were only standing there for a few minutes before one came zipping by, and we all got on.

"When we get back I think I'm going to go find Lynn, and Sean to talk to them about what happened last night. If I wait too long they will think I'm avoiding them, and I don't want to get in another fight." I said to Eric. He was holding my hand again as we leaned back against the wall of the car.

"Okay, try to come by my place after dinner. If I don't answer the door check the roof." He said squeezing my hand a little.

"Yeah I'll come by later." I said as the train slowed a little, and we all jumped off. We were back at the compound. Tommy held out his hand for me to shake. I took it, and he shook it once before pulling me into a big bear hug.

"It's was nice meeting you kiddo, stay out of trouble." He said before letting me go. I laughed a little. Tommy was nice. I liked him, and I really liked how Eric was around him. Tommy seemed to pull out the light fun side of him.

"It was nice meeting you too, and I'll try." I said walking over to Eric. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and gave him a hug. He held onto me for a moment.

"I'll see you tonight." I said pulling away, and walking into the compound. I headed right for my dorm. I figured I would start looking for them there. When I walked in Lynn and Sean were both sitting on Lynn's bed. I made my way over to them, and sat on mine. They both turned, and looked at me with expectant looks.

"Hey what are you guys up to?" I asked not addressing the issue they wanted me to.

"Really? You're not going to explain what happened last night." Lynn said exasperated. I smiled at them. I knew one of them would say something like that.

"Okay I was just messing with you. I'll tell you what happened. When I walked away last night Alexander followed me, and stopped me. He said something about not wanting to just be friends, and tried to kiss me. I was about to push him away when Eric showed up, and punched him. Then we left. That was it." I explained getting right to the point about what had happened.

"What a jerk." Sean said shaking his head.

"Yeah kind of. Is Ryan mad about what happened?" I asked.

"No he knows how his brother is." Lynn answered. I was a little relieved to hear her say that. I really didn't want any drama with either of them.

"Well that's good. I didn't want this to turn into some huge ordeal." I said.

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Sean asked.

"No actually I'm starving." I answered.

"We were just about to go get something to eat. Let's go." He said getting up. Lynn and I followed, and we all made our way to the cafeteria. It was a little late for lunch, and the place was mostly empty. We all grabbed something to eat, and sat at our table.

"So Sean who was that girl you were talking to last night? She was pretty cute." I asked nudging him a little with my elbow. He began to blush a lot. It was so adorable.

"Her name's Shay, and we just talked a little." He answered trying to sound like it was nothing.

"She was ranked second right?" I asked.

"Yeah." He answered simply. I got the feeling he didn't want to talk too much about it.

"Do you guys have any plans for the rest of the day?" I asked.

"We were going to meet Ryan and Shay in the pit when we were done eating. You can come with us if you want." Lynn answered.

"Okay that sound fun. I'll come with you guys." I said with a big mouth full of potatoes, and I nearly spat them everywhere. Both Lynn and Sean laughed at me. We finished eating, and headed for the pit. When we got there we found Ryan and Shay sitting on a ledge against a wall. We walked over to them. Ryan jumped down, and pulled Lynn into a hug. Sean shyly stood next to Shay. It was obvious from the way she looked at him that there was some interest there. Sean introduced me to Shay, and I shook her hand. She seemed friendly.

"So Ryan I'm sorry about what happened last night with your brother." I said turning to look at him and Lynn. They were leaning against the wall holding hands.

"It's not a problem. I talked to him earlier and he feels pretty bad about what happened. He had a few drinks last night, and I think he's actually really embarrassed about it." Ryan said. He let go of Lynn's hand, and stepped closer to me. He gently took my arm, and we took a few steps away from the others. "Look I'm sorry about what Alexander did last night. That was really stupid of him, but if you can try not to hold it against him. He really likes you a lot, and I know that he feels like a complete idiot." Ryan said quietly to me.

"I won't hold it against him. I wasn't really happy about the whole situation, and Eric obviously wasn't, but I get it he messed up. I don't think it's a very good idea for the two of us to hang around each other though…I get that he likes me, but I just don't feel the same way." I said trying to reassure him a bit. Alexander was his brother, and he just seemed to be concerned about him.

"Okay I get it. It's just he's my brother, and it's kind of mandatory that I look out for him." He said with a little smile, and turned to walk back over to Lynn.

We all spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out in the pit, and chatting. It was nice to just spend time with them all, and I got to know Ryan and Shay a little better. Shay was good at shooting guns too, and we spent a good amount of time talking about that. She wasn't interested in being a sniper, but apparently she was a good shot. When it got close to dinner time we all headed for the cafeteria together. Everyone sat at our table. Four was just getting up to leave, he gave me a little smile as he left. I looked over at Eric's table, but he wasn't there. We all chatted through dinner, and we all agreed to go back to the pit after again when we were done, and hang out for a while longer. Tomorrow we would be starting stage two of our training, and everyone wanted to have a bit of a party.

When we were done eating we all walked back to the pit together. When we got there the whole place was packed with people. Some were dancing, but most seemed to be talking, and laughing in smaller groups. We all walked over, and sat on a short stone wall. We were only there for a few minutes when I spotted Alexander. He was headed for us. I shifted nervously I wasn't sure if I should just leave, or stay and wait for him to come over to us. I decided bolting might be a bit of an overreaction, so I stayed. He walked right up to me.

"Hey Ella can I talk to you?" Alexander asked. I debated for a moment about whether I wanted to or not.

"Yeah we can talk." I finally answered standing up, and walking away from the group a little. He followed me, and we stood next to a wall. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked my tone a little on the cool side.

"Ella I'm really sorry about what happened last night. I acted like a complete jerk, and I know that I blew any chance of us even being friends, but I wanted you to know that I am really sorry. I'll leave you alone from now on I just had to at least apologize." Alexander said. He seemed to be genuinely sorry about what had happened. He didn't have his usual cheeky demeanor about him.

"Look it's okay I forgive you, so don't worry about it, but you're right I don't think we can be friends. Mostly for your safety." I said laughing a little at that last part. Alexander seemed to relax a little, and gave me a small smile.

"Yeah I agree I'm not really interested in getting hit again anytime soon." He said with a soft laugh. "Thanks for talking with me about this, I'll let you get back to your friends." He said before turning to leave. I nodded, and headed back over to everyone. I sat back down in the spot I was at before.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Lynn asked.

"He wanted to apologize for last night. I accepted his apology, and we agreed that its best we just not hang out, or try to be friends." I explained.

"Well that's good I guess." Lynn said. I was starting to feel a little tired, and was curious to know what Eric was up to.

"Hey I think I'm going to take off, I'll see you guys later." I said getting up, and heading for the hallway that led to Eric's place. I was half way there when I saw Bonnie come out. She spotted me, and with a scowl she turned back down the hallway. I guess it was better that she was avoiding me. I didn't want to get into another fight.

I headed down the hallway myself a few moments later. I was only a few steps in when I could see Eric…and Bonnie. Everything seemed to slow down as I took in what I saw. Bonnie was kissing Eric. I couldn't think straight it felt like everything around me began to crumble. I turned and ran as fast as I could in the other direction. I ran for my dorm. I could hear Eric call after me, but I didn't stop I just kept running.

I was half way down the hall of my dorm when Eric caught up with me. He grabbed my arm, and spun me around to face him.

"Ella it's not what you think." He said trying to catch his breath. I tugged my arm away from him.

"Stay away from me. I'm not blind I know what I saw…just go away…I can't even look at you right now…just go." I said. It took all I had not to cry. His jaw flexed in the way it always did when he was angry.

"Fine." He said as he turned and walked away. I ran the rest of the way to my dorm. I went straight for my bed, and crawled under the covers before I started crying. I was so angry at him. He made such a huge deal about Alexander, and then I catch him in the hall with Bonnie. Was he still just playing a game? Was I just a fool for buying into it? My head was running wild trying to make sense of it. I was feeling irrational though, and couldn't seem to sort any of it out. I just kept crying into my pillow, until the sobs slowly started to stop. I laid there, and pulled my blankets over my head. I felt myself grow tired. Crying was exhausting, and slipped into sleep.

I woke up earlier than usual, but I had gone to be earlier too. I laid in my bed remembering everything that had happened the night before. I wished that it had just been a nightmare, but I knew it wasn't. I wanted to take a shower, but I realized that my shower bag was still at Eric's. I got up, and pulled on my boots. I headed out the door, and made my way to the pit. I wanted to see if there were any shops open. I had a few points still, and could probably get some more personal care items. I was in luck the lady that had given me my original shower bag was in her shop. I went in, and asked her for another one. She was cheerful as usual, and gave me another bag. I settled up with her, and ran back to the dorm. I got in the shower, and quickly moved through my shower routine. When I was done scrubbing I just sat under the water letting it pour over my face. I wanted to cry again, but this time I held it back. I heard some of the others begin to start moving around, and turned off the water. I quickly got dried, and dressed. Sean and Lynn were still asleep. I wasn't in the mood to explain what had happened, so I went down the cafeteria to get something to eat.

When I got there Four was sitting at our table. Eric wasn't there, and I was glad for that. I sat down, and grabbed some food. I wasn't really hungry, so I mostly just poked at it.

"You nervous about starting your training today?" Four asked looking at me with a concerned expression.

"No…not really." I answered still poking at my food.

"Is something else wrong?" He questioned. He had stopped eating, and was looking right at me now.

"I don't really want to talk about it." I answered not looking back at him.

"Okay, but you should eat something. Training is going to be rough today." He said still carefully watching me. I didn't really care if training was going to be hard. It might take my mind off of things. I forced myself to take a big bite of eggs.

"Better?" I said with my mouth full. Four smiled, and shook his head.

"Alright. When you're done eating meet me in the hall outside just outside the cafeteria. When everyone's done eating I'll take you all to the room you'll be doing stage two of your training." He explained. I nodded, and took another bite of my food.

When he was finished eating he got up, and left. I assumed it was time to go wake everyone else up. Lynn and Sean showed up a few minutes later. I knew they both could tell something was up with me, but it took them a while to ask. I told them the same thing I told Four. They didn't push the mater, and instead chatted with each other about what training would be like today. When they were done eating we met Four in the hallway. Most of the other initiates were there waiting too. When everyone was there he led us down the hall. We walked to an area I had never been before. We made one more turn down a short hallway with a door at the very end. There were seats lining the walls, and the same dim blue lights that hung everywhere else.

"Everyone take a seat. Wait out here till I call your name. You'll be going one at a time." Four instructed before going into the room at the end of the hall. We all took a seat. Everyone nervously shuffled, even the Dauntless born who were here with us. The waiting was almost painful. All I had to occupy myself was to think about Eric, and what had happened. I was feeling angrier now more than anything.

"Lynn." Four called as he opened the door. Lynn nervously got up, and went into the room with Four. We all sat in silence just waiting. My mind drifted back to Eric again. How could he do that? At least when Alexander tried to kiss my I stopped him, or I would have if Eric hadn't almost knocked him out first. It was apparently okay for him to go around hitting people who stepped to close to me, but he could kiss _that _girl. I felt the animal clawing at the surface again. The door to the room opened, and Four was holding up Lynn helping her walk. Sean, Ryan, and I all ran over to her.

"What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" Ryan asked grabbing to help her stand.

"She's fine. She just needs to rest." Four answered. A Dauntless member came over to us, and helped Lynn. "Chris will make sure she gets back to the dorm. Ryan you're next." Four said looking at Ryan. He hesitantly let go of Lynn, and went into the room with Four. Sean and I went back to our seats, and sat in silence again. I started to feel a little more concerned about what stage two was going to be like.

Four continued to call us one by one until it was just me and Shay. He called her next. I sat waiting by myself for a while, or at least it seemed like it. I wasn't sure how long she had been in there. Finally the door opened, and Shay came out standing on her own. She looked a little shook up, but was walking on her own. Four didn't come out with her, and I sat there waiting for a few minutes before the door opened again. It was Eric. I had the urge to go over to him, and punch him. The animal was suddenly back.

"Ella. Come on." He said standing there with a hard look on his face. I got up, and walked into the room. It was small with a chair a lot like the one I sat in to take my test. There was a monitor on a small table off to the side.

"Why are you here, and not Four?" I asked in a short tone.

"He needed a break. Sit down." He answered. I sat in the chair doing my best not to look at him.

"That's convenient." I said rolling my eyes.

"This is really how you're going to act? You still won't let me explain what happened?" He said stepping close to the side of the chair looking right at me. I looked up at him with a defiant look.

"Just do your job, and let's get this over with." I answered.

"Fine." He said, and shot me in the neck with something.

"Ouch." I said scowling at him.

"I just injected you with a serum that stimulates the part of your brain the processes fear. It induces a hallucination, and transmitters in the serum allow me to see the images in your mind." He explained in a blunt tone.

"You're going to see inside of my mind?" I asked. That was pretty much the last thing I wanted at the moment.

"Mmm hmm. You'll be facing your worst fears in this simulation. Most people have ten to fifteen. You'll have to calm yourself down, and deal with whatever you face." Eric explained as I felt myself grow sleepy.

I wasn't in the small room anymore. I was in the training room in the middle of one of the rings. I looked around. I stopped when I saw Eric he was there with Bonnie, and he had his arm around her. I wanted to run after them, and hit her. I started to move toward them when a large jagged blade shot up from the floor. I jumped back, and they laughed at me. It only made me want to go after them more. I moved forward again. Another blade shot up then another closer to me this time. I backed away, and another came up just centimeters from my foot this time. I backed away quickly to the other side of the mat, but a blade shot up as I neared the edge. Then they were shooting up everywhere closing in on me. One caught me in the leg slicing it open from the edge of my ankle all the way up my calf. I grabbed at it trying to stop the blood. I couldn't walk, and more blades were shooting up coming closer. One caught me in the back of my other leg sending me to the floor. Another went straight through my arm. I was screaming in pain trying franticly to pull my arm free.

I sat bolt upright in the chair sobbing, and grabbing at my arm then my legs. I was back in the small room. Eric was standing next to my chair. Without thinking I grabbed him, and clung onto him crying into his shirt. He pulled me close wrapping an arm around my back, and the other her stoked my head.

"It's okay Ella, you're not there anymore. You're safe now." He said quietly to me. I cried for a while clinging to him. It was hard to pull myself back in, and realize I wasn't in there anymore. I finally pulled away from him. He held my face gently, and looked at me. "Ella look at me. You're okay. Do you understand?" He asked.

"Yes." I whimpered out. He pulled me close to him again. I wasn't okay. How was I supposed to deal with that fear? How was I supposed to beat it? I shivered at the thought of having to go back there.

"Can you stand?" He asked. I nodded, and moved to stand up. At first I almost expected my legs to go out as if they really were cut, but they didn't. I stood there, and he held onto me.

"I'm okay. Can I go now?" I asked looking up at him.

"No. I want to take you somewhere. Will you come with me?" He asked. I sat for a moment to think about it. After what I had just been through I wasn't feeling as angry anymore.

"Yeah I'll go with you." I said quietly. He took my hand, and led me out of the room. We walked along in silence. We came to the pit, and he took me up to the shop I had bought most of my clothes from. If his idea of taking me somewhere was this to buy me another shirt, or something. I was just going to leave.

"Why are you bringing me here?" I asked with an edge of agitation to my tone.

"Wait here. I'll be back in a minute. This isn't where I'm taking you. I just have to get something first." He said ignoring my tone. He went in, and I waited for him. He was back out a moment later with a bag, and took my hand again. We walked back down to the pit, and he led me to another hall. We walked for a while before coming to a stair case. We climbed a few levels before he led me down another hall. At the end of it there were two double doors. He pulled out his keys, and opened it before pulling me in with him. He flicked on the lights. The room was huge, and in the center of it was a large pool. The water was a pale blue in the reflection of the soft blue lights, and the water was so still that it looked almost like glass.

"I don't know how to swim." I said looking at him. He smiled, all the tension of early gone.

"We'll stay in the shallow end then." He said pulling me toward a door on the other side of the room. We went in. It was smaller with two bathrooms off to either side, and rows of lockers against the wall. He opened the bag, and pulled out a black swim suit. It was a simple one piece with a halter neck. He handed it to me. "You can get dressed in there. There are towels in there too grab one." He said pointing to the bathroom off to the left.

I went into the bathroom and changed. I grabbed a towel as I went back out. He was waiting for me in black swimming shorts. I had never seen him without a shirt, and when I glanced at him I couldn't help but blush. I did my best to keep my eyes on his face. He gave me a knowing smirk before coming over to me, and taking my hand. We went back out into the large room. He led me down to the shallow end of the pool.

There were steps that led down into the water at one corner with a hand rail running down the middle. He stepped in first still holding my hand. I carefully stepped in beside him. The water was warm. I was a little surprised I thought it would be cold. He led me into the pool until the water reached my shoulders. It was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by water like this. I could feel how much lighter my body was, and it helped every part of me relax just a little.

"How does the water stay so warm? I thought it would be so much colder." I asked.

"The broiler room is right next door, and there is enough energy to heat it. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to have it." He answered.

"I'm guessing not everyone is allowed in here since you used a key to get in?" I asked.

"Yeah only the leaders have access, and a few members…and their guests." He answered. I suddenly remembered last night. The shock of the simulation was wearing off. I pulled my hand from his, and felt the tension of anger come back.

"How could you do that? Especially with how you are about Alexander." I said shaking my head in frustration.

"Ella I didn't want her to do that. She had spotted me in the hall earlier when I was headed to the pit to find you. I had just told her that I wanted nothing to do with her, and she stormed off ahead of me to the pit. She obviously saw you, and came back because the second you were in view she jumped on me, and kissed me. I wasn't expecting her to do that, and before I could push her away you were already running." He explained taking my hand again.

"Is that what really happened? You're not just playing with me?" I questioned. He gave me a hard look.

"Yes that's what really happened. Why would you think that I was playing with you?" He asked.

"Because sometimes you're hard to figure out. When I first got here you seemed to go back and forth between messing with me, and helping me." I answered. His expression softened.

"I wasn't messing with you I was trying to teach you something. You're not stupid Ella you know what I'm talking about." He answered. He was right I knew.

"Okay. Maybe I over reacted a little, it's just when it comes to you I can't think straight sometimes. I'm sorry I freaked out. I should have let you explain." I said feeling a little foolish. He smirked, and pulled me over to him. I let my arms wrap around his neck.

"Let's just forget about all of it." He said. I nodded, and leaned my head against him.

"Stage two of training is only going to get worst isn't it?" I asked quietly. He rubbed my back gently.

"Yeah it's going to be hard." He said.

"How am I supposed to beat it? The blades almost killed me." I asked.

"You have to stay calm, and think. You let yourself be distracted when you were in there. You were too emotional. There was a flat sheet of metal in one corner of the ring you could have used it as a shield, but you were too focused on me and Bonnie to notice. There is always something you can do, you just have to calm down and think. You're brave Ella you can get through this." He explained. I looked up at him. I was trying to remember being on the mat I didn't notice the sheet of metal. I was so focused on my anger at seeing him and Bonnie together.

"Okay I'll try harder next time." I said.

"I know you will." He said kissing my forehead before pulling away from me a little, but still holding my hands. "Okay let's teach you how to tread water, so you don't drown." He said with a smile.

"Okay what do I do?" I asked. He explained to me how to move my arms and legs steadily through the water. I was able to do it, so he showed me how to float, and then a few basic strokes. I wasn't really able to swim well, but I could do enough that I probably wouldn't drown. We had been there for what felt like at least a few hours when he said we should get going. I was starving. Swimming made me hungry, and I hadn't ate anything for breakfast, and I knew it was way past lunch time. We got out of the pool, and went back to the bathrooms to change. There were showers in the bathrooms, and I quickly rinsed off before getting dressed. Eric was waiting for me again when I got out.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. I smiled.

"Yes I'm starving." I answered.

He came over to me, and took my hand. We walked together to the cafeteria, and chatted about swimming. I debated about whether I liked zip lining or swimming better. When we got to the cafeteria he didn't let go of my hand like he usually did. Instead he tugged me over to his table.

"Are you sure I should sit with you over here?" I asked.

"Yeah it's fine." He said. His tone seemed a little stiff though. I glanced back at my usual table. Alexander and Ryan were there. Ryan was sitting with Lynn, and Alexander was sitting next to Four. They were all chatting with each other.

"Eric if me sitting here is going to cause problems then I'm not going to do it just because Alexander is over there." I said stopping just before we reached his table. He stepped closer to me, and his expression softened a little as he looked me in the eye.

"It's not going to cause any problems, and there is no way you're going to go sit over there next to Alexander." He said pulling me over to his table. It was mostly empty right now, and I took a seat next to him. We pile food onto our plates, and started eating.

"You know last night in the pit before the whole thing with Bonnie, Alexander and I talked." I said looking at him. His jaw flexed, and I could see his whole body tense. I touched his arm. "Don't let me finish. He just wanted to apologize, and he agreed that it was best that he keep his distance from me." I explained.

"Then why is he over at your table tonight?" He asked in a strained tone.

"Well his brother is there, and Four is his best friend. He might only be there because I wasn't there. I'm with you." I answered. He seemed to relax a little.

"Okay fine. Just try to stay away from him if you can." He said laughing just a little at the end. I looked at him. He was smiling now, and all the tension seemed to be gone.

"What?" I asked with my mouth full.

"You kind of remind me some kind of wild animal devouring it's pray when you eat." He said with another little laugh.

"Why does everyone always say that?" I said with a little exasperation.

"Because it's true." He answered. I huffed, and he handed me a napkin. I wiped at my face. He just grinned at me. He leaned close to my ear.

"It's kind of cute, it's the wild side of you peeking out." He whispered. I laughed a little, and he laughed with me. I was glad we were back to this. It was nice. I looked over to my table everyone there had noticed me sitting over here with Eric now. Alexander seemed to be avoiding looking in my direction. That was probably a good thing. Four surprisingly just gave me a small smile. Lynn and Sean both looked mildly concerned though. I smiled at them before going back to finishing my food. When we were done eating Eric got up and took my hand. He led me back to my dorm.

"Do you want to stay at my place, or do you want to stay here?" He asked. I smiled at him.

"I want to stay with you." I answered.

"Okay then get your stuff…all of it." He said. I looked at him for a minute. I wasn't completely sure what he was saying.

"You want me to get all of my things?" I asked.

"Yeah. You stay with me almost every night anyway, so just get all of it." He answered. I shrugged he was right I did. I went into my dorm, and gathered up all of my things. It really wasn't much just my clothes, and new shower bag. We went back to his place. I walked in, and stood there for a minute.

"Where should I put all of my stuff?" I asked. He went over to the set of drawers, and pulled one open.

"You can put your stuff in here." He said.

"Did you clear out a drawer for me?" I asked. He looked away. I wasn't sure, but I think that he may have blushed just a little.

"Yeah I didn't it yesterday, before I came down to find you." He answered. I suddenly felt a little guilty about freaking out again. I walked over, and put my stuff in the drawer. I put my arms around his neck, and hugged him.

"Thanks." I said as he wrapped his arms around me giving me a squeeze before letting me go. He opened one of his drawers, and pulled out one of his shirts for me.

"Are you tired?" He asked handing me the shirt.

"Yeah I am. It's been a long day." I answered.

"Get changed then." He said gesturing to the bathroom. I went in, and changed. I came out, and he went in. I went over to his bed, and pulled back the covers before I sat down. He came out a moment later. He came over, and sat in his chair.

"Do you mind if I read for a little while?" He asked. I shook my head, and got up. I sat next to him in the chair.

"Will you read to me?" I asked. He put his arm around me, and grabbed a book.

"Mmm hmm." He said quietly. I sat there listening to him read for a while. His voice was like a lullaby. It was so smooth and deep with a softness to it that made me feel safe and relaxed. I felt myself drift off to sleep.

**A/N. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I brought in another new character. I wanted Eric to have a friend. I based Tommy off of Tom Hardy. My inspiration for the character really came for him in the movie Warrior. He just looks like the kind of guy Eric could be friends with. His personality is kind of light, and I think he is sort of a big brother type to Eric just a little. **


End file.
